A Beautiful Lie
by seyelegna
Summary: Decommissioning is the official end to every KND operatives career. Or at least, it's supposed to be. But when a former member of sector V goes rogue, the KND has no choice but reinstate a few familiar faces. Now that they're older, the stakes are so much higher. Can they stop their friend before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

**Just discovered the world of fanfiction, hmmm let's see how this goes.  
**

 **I own nothing, just borrowing a few characters :)**

Chapter 1

She had no tears left.

It didn't matter anymore. All of her friends had already gone and without them, it just wasn't the same.

Sure, she still saw them at school and on the playground, but they barely recognized her.

She took a deep breath and looked over at Nigel Uno. He'd been there for everyone's decommissioning, so his appearance was no surprise.

He had snuck in at the last moment. It's what he always did.

Being a part of the Galactic KND meant he wasn't supposed to attend these. He no longer had that type of clearance. But somehow, he always showed up.

Numbuh 5's decommissioning had been first. Just before the countdown began, he silently slipped into the room. It had been months since the team had seen Nigel, so it caused a bit of a commotion, and an arrogant officer made the mistake of questioning his presence. She never heard what Nigel said to the young operative, but she watched the kid quickly pale as he spoke.

Nigel's attendance was never questioned again.

Since then, she always wondered if Nigel had been up to more than he let on. But she never had the chance to ask. As soon as the decommissioning was over, Nigel snuck out as quietly as he came. He continued this ritual each time a member of his team turned thirteen.

She sighed as the memories of each of her friends thirteenth birthdays played in her mind.

It always seemed like childhood would last forever. As if time would stop just for them.

It was a beautiful delusion.

But the sad truth came all too quickly.

She remembered thinking how hard it must have been for Abby to turn thirteen and be the first to leave. She was relieved that she still had some time. But it was after Numbuh 4's decommissioning that she realized, her time left in the Kids Next Door wasn't worth it without her friends.

The worst part was, while they ignorantly continued on with their lives, she was forced to live with memories of friends who no longer knew her.

"I'll repeat myself only once _Teenager_!"

She was quickly pulled from her thoughts and looked down to see a very agitated decommissioning officer.

"Wha.."

The officer rolled her emerald eyes and screamed.

"Do you, Numbuh 3 of Kids Next Door Sector V, have any last words?"

The small screaming girl had bright red hair and a slight accent. Kuki couldn't help but think that perhaps she was a relative of Numbuh 86.

Kuki looked up at the group surrounding her, gave Nigel a brave smile and shook her head.

There was nothing more to say.

The countdown began.

"5"

She refused to spend her last few seconds dwelling on painful memories.

"4"

She began to think of her favorite moments in the Kids Next Door; her friends, the missions, even the delightful brats birthdays, holidays..

Her heart stopped.

"3"

Birthdays.

Nigel's Birthday always came before hers...

"2"

She couldn't breathe. Her eyes focused onto Numbuh 1. He was thirteen. Her face must have shown the horror she felt because as their eyes met, Nigel began to laugh.

"1"

She finally caught her breath. She had to...

Her world went black.

The last of the legendary sector V had officially completed her final mission.


	2. Chapter 2

**Still own nothing and borrowing some great characters.**

Chapter 2

...4 years later...

An alarm pierced through the silence. Kuki's heart raced as she began to sprint to the door.

She had to help them. They needed her.

The door was in sight, she was going to make it! She reached her hands out. Her fingers were inches from the door. This was it!

Suddenly, the ground beneath her gave way. A sharp pain shot through her head as her body slammed into a solid surface.

She tried to scream, but was horrified to realize her mouth was covered. In a panic she jumped to her feet, fists clenched, ready to fight.

"Umm, what are you doing?" She heard a small voice behind her ask.

Kuki quickly twisted her body, intent on facing her enemy.

Her eyes rested upon the petite figure of her younger sister in the doorway. She was wearing her favorite blue pajamas and gripping a large bagel covered in peanut butter.

Reality began to set in as she watched her confused sibling slowly take a bite out of her bagel.

Kuki's body relaxed and her heartbeat slowed as she looked from her sister, to the tangled green sheets on the floor. Her alarm clock was shrieking as it hung by its cord off the nightstand. Kuki suddenly became very aware of her head, which was now throbbing due to her impromptu tumble from the bed.

It was just a dream. A very familiar dream. As if she had done that before, but that wasn't possible. She sighed, it was probably something she saw in a show. She really needed to stop watching television before bed.

She yawned and rubbed her head as she dragged herself over to the screeching alarm clock, quickly silencing the cursed machine and placing it back upon the nightstand.

She turned back to the younger Sanban sister, fully intending to grumpily shout at her for being in her room. Kuki opened her mouth, but was disgusted to find she had bits of purple shag carpet in her mouth.

"That's a really nice look Kuki" Her sister laughed. "I think it'll go over well"

Kuki glanced at herself in the mirror to see her raven hair in tangles, purple lint sticking to her lips and a bruise forming on her forehead.

She rolled her eyes, already sick of this day. "Get out, Mushi!"

Her sister laughed and skipped off to her bedroom, as Kuki grouchily wiped at her mouth.

Luckily the rest of the morning passed without further incident and, by the time her ride pulled into the driveway, Kuki had regained her normally cheerful demeanor.

"Bye Mushi!" She yelled up the stairs as she hurriedly grabbed her book bag. "Don't forget to feed Bradley before you get on your bus!"

Right on cue a plump black and white cat rubbed against her legs. She bent down and stroked his chin. Bradley was the family cat, but Kuki was the one who found him, named him and insisted on keeping him. She didn't know why she named him Bradley, it just seemed to fit.

"I won't, I won't" She heard the muffled sound of her sister's annoyed answer from up the stairs.

She smiled as she began to race to the kitchen where her father was reading the paper.

"Bye dad" She sang as she rushed past the table. He jumped at the sound of her voice and knocked over his coffee.

As she turned to shut the door she heard the distinctive honking of a Shelby Mustang. She rolled her eyes. He was so impatient.

She sprinted down the driveway and hopped into the passenger seat of the ancient vehicle. "We have plenty of time!" she shouted over the roar of the car's engine. She looked to the driver's seat at her best friend Hoagie Gilligan, as he shifted the car in reverse.

"If we hit traffic I'll end up having to park in the "C" lot with the juniors." He complained. "And you know I hate doing that."

Kuki faked a cough to cover her giggle.

Hoagie was obsessed with his car. The last time they parked in the "C" lot some junior parked a little too close for his liking. As it was her fault they were late, Kuki hadn't heard the end of it since. Being seniors they were supposed to park in lot "B," but Hoagie decided that his car was too precious to risk it. So, he started parking in the faculty lot. There was a pretty big fine for students who took a faculty spot, but Hoagie had yet to be caught. When asked about how he managed it, he would only give a mysterious smile.

"You know if you spent a little less time worrying about your car" A voice from the backseat cackled. "And little more time on your class work, you wouldn't be begging me to check your Spanish homework during homeroom."

Kuki turned around to see her other best friend, Abigail Lincoln, sprawled out across the backseat with her red cap pulled low, covering her eyes.

"You know, I could drop you back home and you can get Cree to take you to school again." Hoagie joked.

Abby pushed up her cap and smiled. "Oh, I'd walk to school first."

They all laughed thinking about the one and only time Abby's miserable sister Cree, took her to school. It was freshman year and Abby had missed her bus. Abby's parents insisted that Cree take her younger sister to school, as it was a great chance to "bond." But Cree had other plans and spent most of the ride telling her sister off for being irresponsible. She continued until Abby hopped out of the car at a red light. Not being the most compassionate sister, Cree drove off, and Abby walked the 5 miles left, to school. When Abby's parents found out, they took Cree's car for a month. It was a long walk, but Abby considered it worth it.

Hoagie and Abby soon fell into a conversation about last night's History homework, which by the sounds of it, Hoagie bombed. Kuki smiled as she listened to Hoagie try to convince Abby that a cause of WWII was Archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassination. She stifled a laugh as Abby exasperatedly groaned "wrong war, Gilligan"

Kuki had met Abby and Hoagie freshman year in homeroom. They had always gone to the same school, but they had never had any classes together up until then. Despite being very different people, they became fast friends.

It was as if they had known each other forever.

Although you'd never want to copy his history homework, Hoagie was the guy you went to if you were having any kind of tech problems. In fact, it wasn't uncommon for him to get called down to the office to fix some computer issue they were having. It was for this reason that Mr. Staffer, the head of the school IT department, hated Hoagie. Of course Hoagie's constant bragging about his tech genius didn't help the situation.

Abby on the other hand was very modest about her talents. She was top of the class and despite her laid back demeanor, she was a born leader. She was class president, a black belt in karate, Captain of the softball team, tutored after school, and led a youth group.

"Boy, do you pay attention at all in this class?" Abby scolded

She had grabbed Hoagie's history homework out of his bag and was shaking her head in disapproval as she read through it.

"You're lucky we have study hall first period because you have a lot of work to do" She continued.

"But they just got an iPad cart in the library!" He argued as they pulled into the school parking lot. "I was going to set them up."

"Well if you wanna pass this class, the library is gonna have to wait." She sighed as they pulled into a faculty parking spot.

Hoagie quickly scanned the area to see if school security was looking. "We're good ladies" He stated confidently.

They all grabbed their things and slyly exited the vehicle, making sure to close the doors softly. They began their daily ritual of walking up a few rows before starting on the pathway to the school, to make it look like they came from the "B" lot. It was stupid, but they each enjoyed their morning "spy routine."

Once on the pathway they chatted until they reached the front door, where Mr. Staffer stood talking with a custodian. He was a scrawny man with big hair and a pinched face, that always caused him to look in a sour mood. As if to make up for his horrible facial expression, he always wore festive, yet hideous ties to work. Today's tie was mustard yellow with thumbtacks scattered about.

"Hey Mr. Staffer" Hoagie blurted "That's a sharp tie you've got there"

Hoagie burst into laughter as Mr. Staffer scowled.

"Get it?" Hoagie continued. "Sharp tie, thumbtacks"

Kuki and Abby exchanged worried looks.

"How very clever of you Mr. Gilligan." Mr. Staffer sneered.

"Yeah, Hoagie loves his jokes." Abby laughed from behind her friend.

"You have a great day there, Mr. Staffer" She said giving her best "class president" smile as she and Kuki attempted to nonchalantly push Hoagie down the hall and away from the IT director.

After turning a corner Abby whistled as she wiped her forehead. "That man is way too creepy for Abby to be dealing with this early in the morning."

Even Kuki couldn't deny that something was off about that man. But she always made a point of trying to see the best in everyone."He's just a little different" Kuki chimed in. "Maybe he just needs a hug?"

"Yeah." Hoagie snorted "I'm sure he'd love a hug from me"

The three of them laughed as they reached their lockers and they soon parted ways. First period was always music for Kuki, while they went to study hall. She happily waved to them and began to walk to class.

Kuki giggled softly to herself. She couldn't keep the image of a horrified Mr. Staffer receiving a hug from Hoagie. She could almost see his eyes bulging from his head.

She quickly turned the corner to her class, attempting to push the vision from her mind, when she smacked into someone and fell backwards.

Unable to catch herself with an armful of books, Kuki hit the ground hard and her materials flew all over the hallway floor.

Embarrassed she pulled her long dark hair from her eyes and smiled.

"Sorry about tha..."

She forgot what she was saying as her eyes fell upon the "someone" she had bumped into.

It was Nigel Uno.

Out of all the people she could run into, why did it have to be him? Although he kept to himself most of the time, he had a reputation for being dangerous. Other than some kid named Ace, no one dared speak to Nigel Uno. Kuki heard rumors about people who had upset him ending up locked in closets, being hung from the flagpole or worse. Apparently he was quite the fighter too. The last brawl he was in, ended with a broken fountain and dented office door; the other student involved never returned to school.

She stared dumbfounded at him as he looked from her, to the scattered mess of both of their books on the floor. At first he looked almost shocked to see her, then he began to glare at her as he slowly picked himself up off the ground.

Kuki quickly scrambled to her feet and laughed nervously. "Sorry Nigel, I wasn't watching where I was going."

She bent down to pick up her things. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Nigel do the same thing. The bell rang signaling the start of day. She saw him stiffen in her peripheral vision. Now they were both late.

She nervously picked up the pace in gathering her books. She stood as she grabbed the last one and came face to face with Nigel. She took an automatic step back. She was horrified to see that he was grasping a broken pair of sunglasses in his one hand.

She broke his sunglasses!

Nigel was never seen without his sunglasses, not even the teachers dared to ask him to take them off.

This was it. She was done for.

She looked from the glasses to his face and was shocked to see tht he looked absolutely bored as he held out her books in his other hand.

He motioned for her to take the books and casually walked away when she took them.

Kuki let out the breath that she had no idea she was holding.

Suddenly, Nigel stopped, turned around and came marching up to her.

"You realize you have a large bruise, right there?" He asked in a very proper English accent, while pointing to her forehead.

"Umm, yeah?" Kuki replied.

"Then you should probably learn to be a bit more careful. Don't you think?" He responded

Kuki, completely mystified by his seemingly calm response to the situation, could only nod.

He continued to stare at her and did something Kuki never expected.

He laughed.

"See you in English, Kuki" He smirked and walked away.

Kuki stared after him until he turned into his classroom. She didn't know what to make of the situation.

She looked over at the clock and jumped when she realized how late she was for music. She cautiously hurried to class, careful not to turn any corners too quickly. The whole time worrying about what horror would await her in English.

Third period English class came too quickly for Kuki's liking, but luckily she had this class with Abby and Hoagie. Both of whom, had a Nigel Uno free morning and were in good spirits when she met them in the hallway.

Hoagie had managed complete his history homework in time, thanks to Abby. And Abby finished all three of the science labs that were due next week.

Kuki wanted nothing more than to explain to her friends what had happened this morning, but Nigel sat right behind them. Usually he could be heard mumbling to his friend Ace, but it seemed Ace was absent today.

Kuki spent the entire class on the edge of her seat, anticipating some sort of retaliation from Nigel, but it never came. With only ten minutes left in class she began to breathe a sigh of relief. Her only class with Nigel Uno was almost over. Maybe he had forgotten about the incident.

"You'll be working in groups of two, possibly three for this presentation" Her teacher stated from the front of the room. "You'll have a week to complete them. I'll give you the last few minutes of class to find your partners and discuss the project" The classroom soon filled with the chatter of students grouping up and sorting out the details of their projects.

Kuki smiled, she already knew who her partners were. Abby immediately began writing out a list of jobs for each of them.

"Wanna meet at your house tonight Kuki?" Abby asked. "Cree's loser boyfriend dumped her, so she's been home a lot more lately."

"Sure" Kuki quickly answered. Hoagie gave a sigh of relief. Neither one of them wanted to deal with Cree on a Friday night."

"Excuse me, Miss Leechman?" Kuki heard from behind.

Their English teacher looked up from her paperwork and smiled. "Yes, Nigel?"

"I don't have a partner. Ace has the flu and it sounds as if he will be out all next week." Nigel stated.

"Oh, well we can't have you working alone" Miss Leechman began searching the room. Her eyes landing on Kuki's group. She smiled. "I don't mind groups of three if necessary, but Nigel doesn't have a partner, so it looks like we'll have to split the three musketeers up this time."

From behind her Nigel smiled like a kid on Christmas. "Oh Miss Leechman." Nigel said in the most charming voice he could muster. "I'd be happy to work with Kuki."

Kuki wasn't sure who was more surprised at this statement, her, Miss Leechman or her friends. All four of them stared dumbfounded at Nigel. Miss Leechman recovered first. "It's settled then." She grinned at Kuki and walked away.

Kuki was suddenly aware of how quiet the class had gotten. She looked around to see expressions of pity and shock all aimed at her. She looked at Nigel, but he quickly began scrawling in his notebook.

What had she gotten herself into?

The bell rang and pulled everyone from their state of shock.

Appalled as she was at the situation, Kuki wasn't going to let Nigel Uno cause her grades to slip. She bravely marched over to him. "Want to get together after school today to work on this?"

Nigel looked at her as if she had three heads and snarled "Honestly, I don't have time for this nonsense."

He handed her a folded piece of paper and continued. "My time is very precious. Meet me here at exactly 8 o'clock tonight."

Kuki's heart dropped into her stomach as she looked at the address on the paper.

"Umm, where is _here_ exactly?" She stammered.

"My house" He snapped.

And with that he walked away.

Kuki crumpled the piece of paper in her hand angrily and threw it in her bag. As she walked out of the classroom she began to rub her bruised forehead.

Things couldn't get much worse.


	3. Chapter 3

**Still own nothing :)**

Chapter 3

"Oh hell no!" Abby growled.

Kuki was finally able to relay to her friends the story of her encounter with Nigel, during lunch. They were less than pleased about the entire situation.

Abby was currently gripping the piece of paper baring Nigel's address, with a look of disgust on her face.

"There is no way we're letting you go off to, god knows where, with Nigel Uno!" She continued.

"Well actually" Hoagie chimed in. "We do know _where_ the address is. It's right near my grandma's house. You know near..."

Abby silenced him with a look.

Hoagie turned red and looked at Kuki. "Regardless of _where_ it is, you can't go."

Kuki shook her head and looked up at her two friends. "I don't think I have much of a choice. This project needs to be done, and when have you ever seen Nigel Uno past eighth period?"

Abby and Hoagie exchanged worried looks.

Kuki was right, they couldn't deny it. Nigel was well known for skipping out of school around eighth period. And he certainly never stayed after school.

Kuki didn't like it, but she was pretty sure if she wanted to finish this project, she'd have to play by Nigel's rules.

Hoagie pulled the paper out of Abby's hand and stared hopelessly at it."What if we went with you?"

"I can't just invite other people to someone else's house." Kuki answered while picking at her salad. She didn't have much of an appetite after today's events.

Hoagie opened his mouth to protest, but Abby cut him off.

"She's right Hoagie. Not to mention that us showing up uninvited, might make things even worse." She sighed and grabbed the paper from Hoagie. She pulled out her notebook and in her neat script wrote out the address.

She looked up and gave a mischievous smile. "But that doesn't mean we can't escort you."

She immediately looked at Hoagie, who smiled as well. "We'll drop you off at 8 and pick you up at 10 o'clock sharp."

Abby turned back to Kuki. "That gives you two hours to work on the project. See if you can split up jobs so you don't have to do this again."

"And we'll be calling you every half hour. If you don't pick up, were coming in for you." Hoagie added.

Kuki rubbed her bruised head. She couldn't tell if it was throbbing from her fall, or from her friends over protectiveness.

"Look guys, I appreciate all of this. I really do." Kuki tried to reason with them. "But don't you think it'll look a little weird if I'm answering phone calls every half hour?"

"Text messages." Both Abby and Hoagie recited in unison.

"Don't you think this is a little.." Kuki began.

"No." Abby stated firmly as she handed the paper back to Kuki. "I don't. Something ain't right about that kid, Kuki. He's dangerous."

Hoagie nodded.

Kuki looked from one worried face to another and knew there was no arguing. As much as she tried to look on the positive side of this situation, things were looking pretty bad. She was terrified about going to Nigel's house, but knowing Abby and Hoagie had her back, made her feel better.

"Fine." She said as the bell rang signaling the end of lunch.

Luckily, the rest of Kuki's day was fairly uneventful compared to her morning. She sat through a few boring lectures, finished what she could of her homework in study hall and even found some time to research for her English project with Nigel.

The way she saw it, the more prepared she was for this project, the less time she'd have to spend at Nigel's

Apparently Abby seemed to be thinking the same thing, because as they exited the school she handed Kuki a folder.

"These are couple articles I found that support your thesis. I highlighted all the important stuff so you have enough evidence."

Upon hearing this, Hoagie pulled a crumpled piece of loose leaf out of his pocket and handed it to Kuki. "These websites should help too."

An unusual silence fell over the group. Kuki was touched that her friends were so worried about her.

Usually this is where Kuki would jump in with a bright side of a situation, but for the first time, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Kuki was well known for being the friendliest girl in the senior class. She could always find the good in somebody.

But something about Nigel was just off.

The thought of having to spend quality time with him felt wrong. As if she was supposed to stay away from him.

On the ride home everyone avoided talk about the dreaded project and Kuki tried to push it out of her mind. She still had a few hours before she had to be at Nigel's and she couldn't get herself worked up.

After all it was just a project.

Friday was always a busy afternoon for Abby, so instead of dropping her off at home, Hoagie took her to karate.

As she hopped out of the car Abby smiled at her friends. "Pick me up at from my youth group at 7:30?"

Hoagie saluted her. "Wouldn't set foot on Uno's territory without you."

Abby rolled her eyes and waved as she walked off. They watched her walk into the red stone building in silence.

Hoagie then turned to Kuki. "You know you don't have to go there tonight. We could just talk to Miss Leechman. I'm sure there's something else you could do."

Kuki shivered. The idea of stepping foot into Nigel's house sent a chill down her spine.

Truthfully, Hoagie made a good point. Even the teachers steered clear of Nigel. So, there was a good chance Miss Leechman would feel the same way as her friends about her going to his house.

Kuki forced herself to swallow her fear and think logically about the situation.

Nigel had no authority over her. Who was he to demand that she come to his house? If she didn't show up tonight, there was nothing he could do to her.

She already had most of her research done, thanks to her friends. She could just finish the project this weekend and Nigel would just have to deal with whatever she put together.

It was an intense project, so it would be a long weekend. She'd really have to pace herself. Kuki began to create a mental timeline of how to get this whole project done most efficiently, when she realized, this was what he wanted.

He wanted her to be scared.

He was trying to trick her into doing all the dirty work!

It suddenly all made sense to her. Of course, why else would Nigel be so kind to her after their accident in the hall?

Kuki always wondered how he passed anything in school, as he was hardly ever there. When he was in school, he did little to nothing but frighten everyone with his presence.

This was how he did it.

No.

The normally even tempered Kuki was suddenly overcome with a rare, but strong, surge of anger.

She worked too hard for her grades to have some bald-headed bully trick her into doing all of the work.

"I have to do this." She stated determinedly. "I'm not going to let him push me around."

Hoagie looked bewildered at her comment.

"Wait a minute, what...?"

"Don't you see it Hoagie?" Kuki interjected. "Nigel doesn't actually expect me to come tonight."

She ran a hand through her silky hair and took a deep breath, so as not to take anything out on Hoagie, and continued. "He thinks I'll chicken out and do the project myself."

Hoagie considered her comment for a moment and began to shift his car into gear. "Yeah. I guess I could see that. Like he's scaring you into doing all of the work."

Kuki nodded and turned to look out the window.

She wondered how many unsuspecting kids he had roped into doing his work throughout the years.

She fumed until Hoagies laughter pulled her from her trance. "Well if that is his plan, I'd love to see his face when you show up at his door."

She couldn't help but smile.

Hoagie saw no reason to go home when he'd have to come back for Kuki anyway. Or at least that's what he said. But Kuki was pretty sure he was just hoping one of the Sanban sisters would make him a snack.

Kuki's suspicions were confirmed when he broke out into a huge grin the moment they walked through the door. Mushi was just putting cookies into the oven.

Mushi was pretty used to Hoagie stopping by after school, so he didn't even need to ask when they'd be done.

"It'll be about ten minutes, yes they are chocolate chip, no you can't lick the spoon." She said as she set the timer for the cookies.

Hoagie gave Mushi his most winning grin "You're the best Mushi."

Mushi's face broke out into a mischievous grin. Kuki figured it was too convenient for Mushi to be putting cookies in, just as they walked in the door.

"Hey Hoagie, while you're waiting for the cookies, could you take a look at my computer? It's acting up again."

Still staring at the oven, Hoagie's eyes lit up. He immediately agreed and ran off to the family room for her computer.

Kuki set down her school bag and looked exasperatedly at her sister. "Really, Mushi?"

Mushi grabbed the dough covered spoon from the mixing bowl and began to eat the dough off. She smiled and shrugged "Saves me a trip to Best Buy."

Kuki shook her head and wandered off to the family room.

When she arrived, she was greeted to the sight of Hoagie making himself at home. His shoes were off, feet were on the couch and Mushi's computer was in his lap.

"What does your sister do with this thing?" He mumbled as he shook his head. "I hope she made a lot of cookies, this is gonna take a while."

Kuki made her way over to the recliner across from him. As she grabbed for the remote, Bradley jumped into her lap. She smiled as she turned on the TV and began to stroke his chin. She skimmed through the channels absentmindedly, not looking for anything in particular, just something to get her mind off of tonight. She soon settled on reruns of an old cartoon.

She tried to lose herself into the silliness of the cartoon, but found it difficult to focus with such a mixture of anger and anxiety running through her.

Mushi soon walked in with a plate full of cookies. She handed one to Kuki and the rest to Hoagie. He didn't even look up from the computer as he grabbed one. "This things a mess Mushi."

"Which is why I asked you to look at it." She smiled as she laid on the floor and propped her feet on the sofa opposite Hoagie.

She opened a large bag of Trail Mix and began to shove handfuls into her mouth.

Kuki watched as her sister turned her attention to the television, her position on the ground forcing her to watch it upside down. Every so often her eyes would nervously travel to her computer.

Hoagie's focus on the computer never wavered. He seemed to be frustrated by whatever the problem was with the machine. Kuki couldn't help but wonder what on earth her twelve year old sister could have done to a computer that would baffle the tech king.

After an hour or so of struggling with the computer Hoagie seemed to have finally had enough.

"Mushi, what the hell did you do to this thing?" He mumbled through mouthfuls of his last cookie. "I've never seen anything like this, it's like you tried to mesh together two different operating systems..but that's not..."

Hoagie words were suddenly drowned out by the sound of car pulling into the driveway. The bass was blaring, which caused the whole house to shake.

Kuki quickly jumped up and raced to the window. As she looked out they heard the kitchen door slam. Kuki turned towards the kitchen in time to see an extremely aggravated looking Abby walk into the room. She dropped her bag on the floor and glanced out the window as the car whipped out of the driveway, its music continuing to blare down the street.

Everyone looked to Abby for an explanation. "Cree." Was all she said.

She sat down on the floor next to Mushi, who offered her some trail mix. After a few bites she began to explain.

"So Cree is back with her loser boyfriend, Chad. Apparently, my parents thought it would be a great idea if him and Cree took me to youth group."

She rolled her eyes, ate a few more handfuls of trail mix and continued.

"I don't know who's worse, him or Cree. They thought it'd be funny to take me for a joy ride and make me late."

Hoagie looked at the clock and back at Abby "Well you're really late now."

She smiled. "Well, luckily Fanny owes me a few favors, so the moment I saw those two knuckleheads pull up, I texted her to take over for me tonight."

Her gaze wandered over to Kuki. "I'm not happy about it, but at least this will give us time to make sure we have a solid plan in place for your meeting with Nigel Uno tonight."

At this moment Mushi, who was still munching down the trail mix, seemed to swallow wrong, as she fell into a fit of coughing.

"Mushi this is why you don't eat while laying on the floor like that!" Kuki shook her head, reached into her bag for her water bottle and threw it to her sister.

Despite her coughing fit, Mushi caught the bottle one handed and took a sip. When she recovered she gave her sister a strange, worried look.

Kuki was about to question her, when Mushi laid back down and began to happily munch on her snack.

Kuki sighed, her sister never listened.

Her parents soon came home, one with a box of pizza and the other with Chinese. Communication wasn't their strong suit. But they both laughed at their mistake and the Sanban family, Hoagie and Abby sat down to a dinner of pizza and Chinese food.

After dinner they had about one hour until Kuki had to meet up with Nigel and they spent every bit of it prepping. By the time they walked out of the door Kuki had all of her information organized, a list of jobs for her and Nigel to do on their own, the beginnings of a PowerPoint presentation and pepper spray hooked to her key chain.

She looked at Abby as she handed Kuki the pepper spray. "You're a black belt, what do you need this for?"

Abby smiled as she pulled on her red hat. "Girl, it never hurts to be prepared."

Nigel's house was actually pretty close, so it took them all of seven minutes to arrive there. When they pulled into the driveway Kuki couldn't believe her eyes. She wasn't sure what she expected, but this was definitely not it. The porch light was shining brightly above a wooden two seat swing, in the windows a warm light shone out onto the neatly trimmed grass, the leaves were piled neatly at the side of the driveway and a minivan sat parked in the driveway next to an all black sports car.

Hoagie looked at the sports car in disgust "Nigel's such a show off."

Abby turned to Kuki and smiled. "If you need anything at all, we'll only be a text away."

Kuki gave her friends a brave smile, took a deep breath and hopped out of the car.

She stood there for a second, her nerves getting the better of her. And then she imagined all the kids who Nigel had frightened into doing his work. She refused to be one of them. She looked at the cheery front porch and began to walk determinedly towards it.

She could do this, she was tough, she was brave, she was...

A noise in the bushes next to her made her jump. She covered her mouth before she could scream. Her heart beating rapidly, she peered into the bushes. She didn't see anything. It must have been a cat or something. She looked once more at the bushes and then slowly continued her walk to the door.

As she walked up the porch she could see a warm light coming from the front window and could hear the sound of Hoagie's car waiting for her in the driveway, should something go wrong. Her friends were right behind her, she could do this.

She reached a hand up and knocked confidently on the front door.

She waited for a few minutes.

Nothing happened.

She raised her hand to knock once more, when the door slowly opened.

She turned and waved to her friends, signaling that all was well, and stepped inside.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

She looked around for whoever opened the door, ready to introduce herself, but no one was there.

She stepped further into the room and noticed a quaint little set up in the living room. The overstuffed couches were surrounding a cheery fireplace, where a small fire was crackling. There was a large bookshelf lining one wall filled with very old looking books. There was a large piano in the back and side tables with large, expensive looking lamps. It was all very beautiful.

The only problem was, it was covered in dust. It looked as if it hadn't been used in months.

A chill ran down Kuki's spine.

Something was wrong here.

Where was Nigel, or his family?

All bravery leaving her, she realized she had to get out of here.

Suddenly the front door slammed shut. She whipped around just as the cheery fire was extinguished, the whole room fell into darkness.

"This isn't funny Nigel!" She yelled, attempting to sound braver than she felt.

She grabbed her phone out of her pocket, she hit the screen and its small light, lit up a portion of the room. She stopped, she could've sworn she saw something move away from the front door.

She nervously began to back up, while going through her phone contacts for Abby.

She reached Abby's name and as she went to click on her name to make the call, she felt someone grab her arm. She screamed and dropped her phone.

She realized in horror that another set of hands was grabbing onto her other arm. She began to struggle with her unseen attackers, kicking out blindly and attempting to pull herself free.

She unexpectedly felt a pinch on her left arm and began to scream louder.

She dropped to the floor, attempting to grab at her phone. She hit the screen with one finger and was immediately pulled away.

As she was dragged away the phone lit up brightly, as if to taunt her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you so much to those of you who have reviewed! This chapter took a bit longer as life has been a bit hectic lately. As usual I own nothing and this is purely for fun.  
**

 **How very fitting that this is chapter 4 :)  
**

Chapter 4

The light from her phone slowly faded out, dropping the room back into complete darkness. Kuki screamed as the unseen hands began to drag her across the cold and filthy floor.

She stared in horror into the pitch dark.

Her phone had been her fail safe. It would be a half hour before her friends checked in on her. Kuki suddenly found it hard to breathe. She had seen enough crime shows to know that a lot can happen in thirty minutes.

In a panic, she began to struggle against the strong arms that held her. She couldn't go with them. Unfortunately, the harder she struggled, the tighter the grip on her arms became. The hands pulled her to her feet and began to roughly force her to the back of the living room.

Desperate to be free, Kuki kicked the person to her right. To her surprise, she felt their grip on her lessen. Taking advantage of the situation, she pulled both of her legs up and dropped to the ground, forcing her unseen attackers to follow.

She felt the hold on her right arm release. Without thinking, she pulled it back and punched the body to her left. A sharp pain shot through her hand as she made contact with their face.

A deep voice swore loudly and dropped her arm. Kuki immediately jumped to her feet as she felt a hand try to grab her leg. She was too quick for them and easily pulled from their grasp.

Kuki raced through the dark living room, to where she hoped the door stood.

Behind her she heard a voice shout. "Get her or its both our asses!"

She reached her arms out, praying to find the door. She felt her leg smash into one of the many side tables, and cringed as she heard one of the beautiful lamps hit the floor. As it shattered, she could feel bits of glass hitting her leg. The leggings she wore were little protection against the small shards.

She stumbled from the pain, but forced herself to carry on. She could hear steps behind her.

Where was the door? Kuki waved her arms around madly, cursing the darkness of the room.

She screamed in shock as she felt herself slam into another body. She quickly pushed off of the dark figure, only to be roughly pulled back by a muscular arm.

The dark figure grabbed her petite wrist, spun her around and pulled her into his chest.

She tried to fight her new attacker, who in response gripped her tighter. The room suddenly flooded with light and Kuki cursed her eyes, which automatically shut with shock from the brightness.

The figure holding her suddenly spoke. "You two idiots should've been gone by now." His voice was low, but dangerous.

"But she.." She heard another voice protest.

"There are no excuses for a botched job." The figure holding her roughly cut in, his smooth voice a bit louder now.

Kuki began to slowly force her eyes open. She was terrified and the lack of sight wasn't helping matters.

She could just make out two muscular figures across from her. She couldn't keep her eyes open long enough to make out any features.

She willed her eyes open once more, noticing with relief that her eyes were adjusting to the light, only to have the light go out once again.

She continued her futile struggle against the unknown figure holding her. Kuki suddenly felt something hard and metal attach to her wrist. Handcuffs? She tried to pull her other hand away, but he was too quick for her. He pulled her arms around her back and attached the cuff to her other wrist.

The man lifted her over his shoulder and began to carry her. This was bad, she couldn't let them take her. She continued to thrash about in his arms.

"We don't have much time, let's get the hell outta here." The man holding her commanded.

Kuki froze as she abruptly realized that none of these men were Nigel. The figure holding her was speaking with a distinctly Australian accent and the other two were too short and stocky to be Nigel.

Who were these men and where was Nigel?

She could feel her mind slowly growing fuzzy and her body tiring. She realized in horror that the uncomfortable pinch on her arm was probably a shot of something to sedate her.

That didn't give her much time. She had to get away while she still had strength.

She struggled with the man carrying her, attempting to throw him off balance or kick him somewhere unpleasant. But it seemed he had done this before, as he carried her as if she were no more than an unruly child.

She turned just in time to see the others unlatch a glass sliding door. The moonlight hit their faces and Kuki noticed they wore dark goggles over their eyes.

Within moments she felt the cool air of the night hit her cheeks. They were outside and so far from her phone. If they left, her friends would never find her.

She felt tears run down her face as she fought the man carrying her with every ounce of energy she had left.

The group quickly and quietly walked around the side of the house. Kuki's eyes searched the yard as she struggled, praying that a neighbor was looking out their window. She opened her mouth to scream as a gloved hand clamped over her mouth.

She heard a van door open and turned to see the two other men jump into one of those horrifying window-less work vans. She felt the hand being removed from her mouth, as he grabbed the door of the van. She opened her mouth in one last attempt at screaming for help, but was roughly pulled into the blood-red van before she could utter a sound.

As soon as she entered the van, the driver sped off. She heard the van door slam.

Kuki fought to stay focused. This wasn't over yet. She had to fight whatever sedative they had given her.

Kuki tried to steady her breathing. Nigel's house was in a nice and quiet neighborhood, surely someone must have seen something and called the police.

She could feel herself being set down on a bench along the wall of the van. She closed her eyes and forced herself to focus and stay composed.

She was going to get out of this and she certainly was not going to let these monsters see her in a state of weakness.

She took a shuttering breath and opened her eyes.

She jumped back, surprised to find herself staring into a pair of emerald eyes.

Her breath caught in her throat as she examined at the face staring at her. He was pale, as if he hadn't seen the light of day in a while, but he was beautiful. He looked like a statue with his chiseled jaw line and deep set eyes. He had golden blonde hair that stopped just above his eyes. She noticed that he also had a pair of dark goggles, which he had set on the top of his head.

She was astonished to see, that he couldn't have been much older than her. Despite his age, he seemed to be in charge. She couldn't help but wonder the age of the others.

Kuki found she couldn't pull herself away from his piercing gaze. Whatever sedative they had given her was kicking into full gear now. Her vision began to go blurry.

He continued to stare at her and slowly raised a hand up. Confused, Kuki flinched as she saw it come near her face. He paused for just a moment and to her surprise he wiped the tears off her cheeks.

So many questions ran through her mind. Where were they taking her? What did they want from her? But dumbfounded by the sedative and this mysterious stranger, she merely asked, "who are you?"

Kuki cringed as she heard her question come out slurred.

A cocky smile spread across his beautiful face. He seemed to ponder her question and for a moment, Kuki thought he was actually going to answer her.

His eyes suddenly lost focus and he reached up and pressed a finger to his ear. Kuki noticed he seemed to be pressing a black earpiece further into his ear. Kuki heard mumbling coming from the black object. She strained her ears to try and make out what they were saying, but noise from the highway and the old van made it impossible.

She watched as his smile disappeared.

"Yeah, we got her, no thanks to your idiot kids." He growled.

He paused, listening to the black earpiece and then continued.

"He's out, but I don't like it, it was too easy."

His eyes darkened as he once again paused to listen to the person speaking in his earpiece.

"Yeah, whatever."

His eyes suddenly shifted to her.

"She's almost out. Just have everything ready when we get there."

He removed his hand from his ear, and turned to the others in the van.

"Step on it, we're late."

Kuki felt the van lurch forward.

Kuki could feel her eyelids growing heavy. She couldn't concentrate anymore. Her eyes closed and she saw images she couldn't explain; a tree house, a mechanical rabbit and an orange sweatshirt.

She shook her head and opened her eyes once more. He was looking at her again.

He had such pretty eyes.

He looked so familiar.

She didn't own an orange sweatshirt.

Kuki shook her head, she was so confused.

Kuki knew she was supposed to be afraid right now, but she couldn't remember why.

She suddenly heard the driver of the van shouting "Wally get the hell up here, we've got company!"

She heard the Australian growl in exasperation as her eyes closed.

Wally. That was a nice name.

She felt a belt being pulled around her.

As her mind began to go dark, she could've sworn she heard someone whisper gently into her ear.

"Welcome back, numbuh 3."


	5. Chapter 5

**A big thank you to those of you who have reviewed and to any one else following this story. I don't share what I write often, so it's pretty cool to see that people are interested.  
**

 **I own nothing and yet again this is all for fun :)**

Chapter 5

 _"Welcome back, Numbuh 3."_

It was the strangest and most terrifying nightmare she ever had.

As if someone was playing the highlights from a particularly violent action movie in her head, and she was the powerless, damsel in distress.

It was all so real; the roar of a large vehicle zooming along the highway, the blaze of horns, distant shouts and the sickening crunch of metal.

In her dream, Kuki was visited by people she thought she should know, but couldn't quite place. It was so frustrating to see the familiar faces and be unable to recall their identity. She tried to ask them their names, positive that once she heard them, she would recognize them at last. Unfortunately, she couldn't move or speak in this dream.

She was paralyzed.

The people in her dream all wore black. They seemed very nervous and at times, extremely irate.

One was very angry with her at one point. She couldn't figure out why. It seemed as if he was trying to move her, but it was hard to understand him when he shouted like that. She recalled feeling a pain in the back of her head and the sound of a far off, angry yell.

She remembered a flash of silver and someone being roughly slammed into the window next to her head. This was when the angel showed up. He was angry, but not at her.

 _"Touch her again, mate, and I'll kill ya."_

He spoke softly to her afterward. But she couldn't figure out what he was saying. All she knew was that for the first time in this hellish dream, she felt safe.

Unfortunately, the angel didn't stay with her.

She recalled another angry face and a flash of light going off in her eyes repeatedly. She remembered a dark figure standing close by. The memory of his maniacal laughter still sent shivers down her spine.

She had heard of nightmares like this, where you can't move despite the horrible situations going on around you.

Thank god it was just a dream.

Kuki took a deep breath, thankful to be back in her room.

She coughed as the stale, musty air hit her lungs. Something was wrong here.

She could hear the distinctive humming of machinery around her, the sound of steam rushing through pipes, the dripping of water onto hollow metal and a train somewhere in the distance.

This wasn't home.

As she came to this realization, the day's events began to race through her mind. She winced as she realized that the nightmare she had been replaying in her head, was no creation from her overactive imagination.

No. That was real.

Her whole body shuttered involuntarily at the thought of what could have happened to her while she was unconscious. Kuki took another deep breath in order to calm herself.

Yes, this was a bad situation, but she knew the only way she was going to get out of it was by staying calm.

Eyes still closed, she took note of how truly awful she felt. There was so much pressure in her head, she felt as if someone was squeezing it in a vise. The rest of her body wasn't doing much better. It felt as if she were recovering from a marathon, everything ached painfully. The knuckle of her right hand felt raw and she felt a sharp pain from one of her legs, as if it were recently cut.

Kuki knew that she was in bad shape, giving her captors the upper hand. She'd have to be smart about the situation if she was ever going to see home again.

She slowly opened her heavy eyes, silently hoping for a window or even something she could use as a weapon. Her heart dropped as her eyes fell upon a long, dimly lit room with filthy cement walls and a tiny boarded up window. Metal pipes hung from the ceiling, as did rusted vents, though unfortunately none were large enough to hold her.

She looked down and noticed she was laying upon a small cot with a large orange blanket atop her. She slowly lifted her head and was surprised to see that she had been resting on a pillow. She found this strange, as she was pretty sure most kidnappers don't worry this much about their captives comfort.

As she examined the blanket a bit closer a bouncing flash of silver suddenly caught her eye. She turned and noticed, off in a dark corner, a black pair of combat boots propped up on a small wooden table. The owner of the boots was leaning back in a metal chair, absentmindedly throwing a knife up and down with one hand. His blonde hair stuck to his sweaty brow as he stared at Kuki.

She gazed into his emerald eyes, trying to gauge his intent. Unfortunately, his expressionless face gave nothing away.

He continued to toss the knife and slowly smiled. "Good morning, Numbuh 3."

Kuki was too horrified to answer him. Morning? How long had she been here? She bit back tears as she thought of what her family and friends must be going through right now.

She had to get out of here. But how?

Kuki jumped as she heard his boots hit the floor. He began to walk towards her, dragging the metal chair with him. She cringed at the sound of metal scraping on aged cement, as he dragged the chair closer her small cot. He slid the chair directly in front of her and flipped it around so the back faced her. She stared at him confused as he sat down, his arms casually laying on the top rail of the chair.

He reached behind him and grabbed a bottle of water. He slowly held it out to her. She looked at the bottle and then back to him, making no move to grab the water.

He smirked arrogantly. "Take it, Kuki."

Kuki wasn't about to take any hand outs from one of these monsters. She glared at him and asked something that had been on her mind since she had first laid eyes on him.

"Who are you and what do you want from me?" Kuki cringed at the scratchy sound of her voice, but was quite proud of the lack of fear in it.

He hesitated a moment, not taking his eyes off of her. "You sound like hell. Stop being stubborn and drink the water."

Kuki opened her mouth to protest, but he was having none of it.

His pretty face suddenly looked angry. "Seriously Numbuh 3, you're dehydrated you need to drink."

By now the bottle was inches from her face. Realizing that if she was going to get any answers, she was going to have to play nice, Kuki accepted the bottle. She pushed herself further up in the cot and began to twist the top. She could feel her face turn red as she struggled with the cap. What was wrong with her? Her hands felt so weak, she didn't even have the strength to open a stupid bottle of water.

Suddenly the bottle was snatched from her hands. She watched as her captor twisted the top off, threw it behind him and handed it back to her.

Kuki took a deep breath, refusing to let her display of weakness shake her confidence. She was going to get out of this. On the positive side, he would be underestimating her now, perhaps giving her the upper hand.

"Drink Kuki!" He commanded.

Kuki gave him a defiant look, but knew arguing would be foolish. As soon as the water touched her lips, she realized how thirsty she had actually been. Within moments the water was gone.

Kuki was annoyed to find he had been right, she needed to drink. She was already starting to feel better.

He smirked, opened another bottle and handed it to her. She took it without protest this time and drank this more slowly.

Kuki didn't let his kindness fool her, she hadn't failed to notice that he was watching her every move.

"So you don't remember me at all?" He slowly inquired.

Kuki fingered the top of the water bottle and looked at him. "Should I?"

He seemed to think for a moment and then replied "Yes."

Kuki looked into his emerald eyes trying to place him. He looked so familiar, but she just couldn't remember.

"Why don't you refresh my memory." She said slowly "Where do I know you from?"

He smiled and cryptically answered. "No, you'll remember soon enough."

Kuki thought that was a pretty odd answer.

He brushed a hand through his hair and once again began to toss the knife. He watched it soar into the air for a moment and then turned to her. "Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"

Kuki sat back a bit as she watched the knife.

He seemed to notice her apprehension towards the knife and quickly stowed it into his boot.

Kuki sighed. She didn't want to answer him, but she knew her best bet was to keep him talking until an opportunity for escape opened up.

"What do you want to know?" She whispered hesitantly.

"Everything." He answered quickly.

Kuki laughed nervously. "Wow, I don't know if we have enough time for _everything_ about me."

His voice suddenly became low and dangerous. "Oh, we have plenty of time."

"Okay..." Kuki hesitated, she didn't know what to say. She really wasn't that interesting and she didn't want to talk about the people she cared about, not when he could possibly use them against her.

"I, uh, well I like to sing. Kuki stuttered. "And I dance. I'm always in the school plays. There are tryouts for the school musical in a few weeks."

She looked uneasily at him, unsure of what he was looking to hear about. He showed no expression at all, so Kuki nervously looked down at the water bottle and continued.

"I'm always in the school musicals, they're my favorite. Last year I was the lead in Beauty and the Beast. It was my third time in a lead role."

Kuki looked up at him, suddenly making a connection. "Speaking of three, why do you keep talking about a number three?"

He sat expressionless, staring at her.

She continued. "You use it as if it's a name."

"Are you dating Nigel Uno?" He suddenly asked.

"What?" Kuki was completely thrown off by this question.

"No, I'm not dating.." She sputtered angrily. "You didn't answer my question! Is that why you so charmingly shoved me in a van and brought me here?"

Kuki could feel her face burning.

"You think I have some special connection to Nigel Uno?" She yelled.

Kuki could feel her strength coming back to her as the anger began to seethe through her body. She glared into his deep eyes and leaned closer to him. "If you think for one second that Nigel Uno is going to give a damn about what happens to m..."

His hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her cheeks, pulling her closer to him. He glared at her for a moment and then began to laugh. Kuki gasped as she unexpectedly found herself inches from his face.

"I've missed you." He whispered quietly.

He pulled her face a few inches back and resumed his original bored expression, fingers still firmly clasped around her cheeks.

"Regardless of your current relationship with Numbuh 1, you're actually more important to him than you think" He sighed and glared at the door as his finger shot up to his ear. His other hand dropped from Kuki's face. He listened for a moment to the black earpiece and then spoke exasperatedly to the person on the other end.

"She's awake." He continued to listen, though he seemed more irritated as the person on the other end spoke. "Yeah."

He suddenly reached back into his boot, pulling the knife out. "Five flashes is standard."

He began to twirl the knife around in his hand and his foot began bounce. He was clearly ready for the conversation to be over. "You know I don't give a damn." He said darkly.

He rolled his eyes and removed his hand from his ear.

"Unfortunately it seems as if it's not working." He looked back at her. For a moment Kuki could've sworn she saw a flash of pity in his eyes. Before she could be sure, his face fell back into a cold, expressionless mask. "Which is a problem. In order for any of this to work, you need to remember."

"You do realize I don't understand a thing you're saying, right?" She sighed.

He smirked for a moment and then turned away from her. He picked up the metal chair and walked it back to the small table. "Get used to the confusion, love. The deeper you go, the worse it gets."

He sat down and leaned back in the chair, once again propping his boots up on the wooden table.

Kuki glared as he began to arrogantly toss the blade above his head. She opened her mouth ready to verbally lash him for his cryptic answers, when the door slammed open. Kuki jumped as it smashed as the metal door smashed into the cement wall, causing the boards on the window to shake.

Two men walked in. One she recognized from the van. His black goggles sat atop his head and there was a bruise forming around his left eye.

Kuki had to stop herself from smirking, as she was sure she had caused that.

The other man she didn't recognize. This man wore dirty lab coat and currently, looked ready to kill. His face was a bright red and sweat poured down his forehead.

"What the hell were you thinking bringing them here?"

"We didn't exactly have much of a choice, Doc!" Countered the man in all black. "If you've got problem with that you can talk to Wally though, he's the one who made the final call!" He angrily pointed across the room where the blade continued to soar up and down.

Wally.

Kuki shuttered for a moment. That name. She suddenly felt like she was going to be sick. Her world started to spin. She shook her head. No. She had to focus.

She steadied herself and then looked back at Doc. He was currently eyeing the corner of the room warily. She followed his gaze to Wally, who was still tossing his knife, looking murderous.

She shuttered again. For some reason this whole scene was all wrong to her. The look on Wally's face didn't fit him. Her head was throbbing painfully and her stomach was churning. She rubbed her temples.

Doc looked about as sick as Kuki felt. "We weren't prepared for _others_." He mumbled. "That wasn't in the plan."

Wally continued to glare at Doc, knife twisting through the air menacingly.

"Plans change." Wally hissed.

The man in black smirked behind Doc. "I don't see what the big deal is anyway, we're going to need them soon anyway."

He pulled his goggles off his head and began to tinker with one of the lenses. "Think of them as an early gift."

Others? They brought others in with her?

A sharp pain suddenly shot through Kuki's head. She bit her lip, holding back a whimper of pain.

Suddenly flashes of images began to fly through her mind. She tried to focus on them, but gasped as she realized how close Doc suddenly was to her. He grabbed her chin, forcing her head up.

"Still in the dark, my dear?" His voice was light, but his face betrayed the worry he clearly felt.

Kuki looked to the corner and saw that Wally was still tossing his blade, though his gaze was trained on her.

"He won't be pleased." Doc sighed. "We're running out of t.." He suddenly dropped her chin and grabbed at his earpiece. The others quickly did the same each listening intently to the mystery voice at the other end.

Kuki could see the metal door open in her peripheral.

It was stupid. Her head was throbbing in a most debilitating manner and there was no way she could out run them.

But it was her only chance.

So she as going to take it.

She grabbed her head steadying herself. Then she slowly moved her body to the edge of the cot, swinging her feet down to the floor. They were too wrapped up in their earpieces to pay any attention to her.

She smirked and swung her leg back. With all the strength she could muster she swung her leg forward, kicking Doc right between the legs.

This was it.

Doc screamed out and reached for his injury. The man in black looked around confused. Wally immediately shot out of his chair, knife clattering to the floor, forgotten.

But Kuki was ready for him.

She shoved Doc into Wally as he lunged for her. She saw his eyes raise in surprise as Doc smashed into him. The man in black abruptly made a move to grab her arm. Without even thinking, Kuki threw the remaining water in his face. Clearly not expecting that, he stumbled backwards as Kuki ran out the open door.


	6. Chapter 6

**Wow its been a while since I've updated. My apologies for the wait, the holidays always get a bit busy.  
**

 **Thanks to everyone who reviewed!  
**

 **As always, I own nothing and everything is just for fun :)**

Chapter 6

Angry voices filled the hall.

"Who the hell left the door open?"

Kuki's heart pounded as she raced from the room. Despite the dimness of the corridor she could make out a stairwell at the end. Her body trembled and head throbbed, but she forced herself to keep moving. In her mind's eye she kept seeing flashes of familiar faces and things she couldn't quite place. She shook her head and forced herself to focus.

Behind her she heard shouts and a scuffle.

"She's getting away!"

Kuki stumbled and muffled a scream as a shot ran out.

"We need her alive, Bruce. Go that way!

Kuki turned to see Wally roughly shoving his colleague in the other direction, while Doc slumped against the door-frame looking ill. Wally stowed something metal into his back pocket and within seconds was in pursuit.

Her stomach lurched as she watched a livid and armed Wally race toward her. The flashes in her mind were going so quick now she thought she'd be sick.

Mind over matter, she could do this.

She burst through the metal door of the stairwell and began to sprint up to the next level. She pulled the door open, praying not to meet anyone. She could hear the slam of the door below and the pounding of Wally's feet as they hit the steps.

Kuki found herself in a large, messy warehouse. She entered a maze of piled boxes and jumped over the various machine parts that littered the floor.

Sprinting through this labyrinth of boxes and random parts wasn't helping her head. The odd images racing through her mind were becoming clearer and were much harder to ignore.

Wally crashed through the door behind her. She knew there was no way she could outrun him, she was going to have to hide. Desperately scanning the room, she passed what looked to be a vehicle covered in tarps, bottles of a mysterious green liquid and piles of a metallic looking fabric.

A sharp pain shot through her head and her lungs burned, she needed to rest.

It wasn't the best idea, but at this point she didn't have a choice. She turned and dashed to the covered car. She knew she couldn't stay there, it was too obvious, but she just needed a minute.

She gasped as the room fell into darkness.

Caught off guard by the sudden blackness, Kuki stumbled over a box and hit the ground. All around her large machines and fans groaned as they slowly shut down. She tried to push herself to her feet, but a second shooting pain in her head caused her to collapse against the cold cement.

Her mind was spinning, she took deep breaths willing herself not to get sick. With no visuals to distract her, Kuki could no longer fight the images that raced through her mind. Confusing and long forgotten memories began to flash before her eyes; time spent in huge tree house, moments from dangerous adventures and faces, so many faces.

She couldn't put names to any of them, but she could feel that she knew them well. A handful of faces flashed through her mind several times. But it was one face that stood out to her the most. He was shorter than her, with a mop of blonde hair and bright eyes. She couldn't be sure why he stood out so much. It must have been the way he looked at her, as if she was all that ever mattered.

The images, along with the pain in her head, began to lessen. Kuki was baffled by what she saw, she couldn't understand how they all fit together or how she could have forgotten so much. She rubbed her temples gently. It felt as if she was slowly waking up from a long dream.

Kuki jumped as an alarm suddenly pierced the silence, accompanied by a flashing red light red light, which illuminated everything around her.

The covered car was only a few feet away. She forced herself to her feet and made a mad dash for the vehicle. As she reached the car she could hear doors slamming and shouts.

She lifted the tarp, hurriedly dropped to the floor and rolled under the car. She could hear sounds of people running and shouting between the blaring of the alarm.

A complete shut down and an emergency alarm for one escaped teenager, seemed to be a little much.

Kuki peeked out from the bottom of the tarp and caught a glimpse of Wally passing. His hand was to his ear once again and he looked murderous. She rolled further under the car, hoping he'd be distracted enough not to check the most obvious hiding spot in the room.

She heard him yelling to someone, but with the alarm, she couldn't make out what he was saying. The sounds of running and shouting soon faded. Something else must be happening.

Within moments, the alarm silenced but the red light continued to flash every few seconds. Kuki wasn't sure what was worse, the eerie red glow or the pitch black she was left in each time it faded.

Random images still flashed through her mind, but it was much slower now, allowing her to think a bit more clearly. It would be much harder finding her way through this mess with her only light being a momentary flash of red, but she couldn't stay under this car forever. She listened carefully for the sound of approaching feet. All seemed quiet.

She crawled out from underneath the vehicle and slowly lifted the tarp to better scan the room. Through the glow of the alarm she could make out an overhead door a bit further down from her. She smirked as she noticed it was manually operated. All she had to do turn the lock and she'd be out of this hell hole.

Still a bit dizzy, she used the car to steady herself as she stood. Glancing back at the car, her heart dropped.

She'd know this Shelby Mustang anywhere. She couldn't breathe.

She ripped the tarp off the front of the vehicle and gasped as her eyes fell upon the mangled front end of her friend's precious car.

She pulled a second tarp off the car. The cab was still intact, though the airbags had gone off and seat belts were cut.

 _Others_. They talked of there being others. Not them, they can't have Abby and Hoagie.

"No." She whispered.

Kuki jumped as she heard laughter coming from all around her. She slowly turned and watched five figures walk out from the shadows.

She took a step backwards and felt her back hit the car. They had her surrounded. The red glow cast upon their grinning faces sent a shiver down Kuki's spine. As they closed in on her, Kuki couldn't help but notice how creepy it was that they all seemed to act as one.

She looked at each of their faces, recognizing Bruce immediately. He seemed more confident as he stood with this odd group.

"Poor girl. You look lost, perhaps...we can help?" They all said in unison.

Kuki stared at them in horror as two of them stepped aside for Wally. A sharp pain shot through her head as she looked into his expressionless eyes. This was all wrong. This was never how he looked at her.

Tears stung her eyes as it suddenly registered who was standing in front of her.

"Numbuh 4?"

Wally's cold gaze never wavered, though he seemed to flinch as he spoke to her.

"You're still confused Numbuh 3. Come back with us and we'll explain everything. I promise no one is going to hurt you."

His eyes bore into her hers as he reached out his hand with a strangely forced smile. Kuki shivered. Something was wrong here. This was definitely Wally, but something about him was off. The way he acted and even the way he spoke, it was weird.

Kuki shook her head as she looked at his outstretched hand.

"Where are Abby and Hoagie?"

"They're fine. I'll explain later, but we really need you to come with us."

He took a step closer and gently took her hand, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Trust me Numbuh 3, come with us, it'll be...delightful."

Kuki shivered as the surrounding group began to laugh in unison and the horrible truth set in.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you to all who reviewed/favorited/followed, it certainly makes me smile :)  
**

 **I own nothing and everything is just for fun.**

Chapter 7

Kuki took a good look at the odd group surrounding her. The red light flashing upon their glee-filled faces made her feel sick. She couldn't understand how she didn't see it before. Though taller with a few obvious signs of maturity, the Delightful's looked the same.

She shivered as their laugh echoed through the warehouse. The laugh had always unnerved her, but she didn't recall it ever invoking so much fear before. Of course, Kuki always had her team by her side when she faced them.

Her team, god, it had been so long since she had thought of her sector, or any of the Kids Next Door for that matter. Truthfully, she shouldn't be thinking about any of it at seventeen years old. Her memory should've been wiped at thirteen.

What was going on?

More importantly, where were Abby and Hoagie?

A gentle squeeze of her hand brought her out of her momentary reflection.

She closed her eyes, wishing that anyone else had been gripping her hand.

This just couldn't be happening.

Not Wally.

How could he?

She opened her eyes and met Wally's piercing gaze. Those eyes, they were so different from the ones she had gazed into as a child. He had the most beautiful green eyes. She had always hated the way he covered them with his golden hair.

Looking into them now was as if searching the eyes of a stranger. She could feel her face turning red as she bit back tears.

There had to be some sort of explanation for this. Wally had always been rough around the edges, but he was the most loyal operative she knew and an even better friend.

He would never get involved with the Delightfuls.

No, something must have happened to him.

She gave him a questioning look. Hoping for some kind of explanation. The two of them always had something special. She had always been able to read him.

His face remained a mask. The others surrounding them snickered as she pulled further away from Wally, into the car.

"What did you do with Numbuh 2 and Numbuh 5?

His voice this time seemed strained. "We really need to go, Numbuh 3."

"Oh I'm sure you can stick around a bit longer, we only just got here."

Startled, Kuki jumped. She knew that voice.

She whipped around just in time to get a glimpse of the shadowy figure of her former leader in the corner, before she was quickly tackled to the ground. Wally took the brunt of the fall, but he immediately rolled so that he was covering her.

The ground shook as explosions went off around them. Each one causing Wally to grip her tighter.

Kuki coughed as a strange smoke filled the air. She couldn't see a thing, but she could hear the voice in Wally's earpiece screaming. Wally quickly got back to his feet, pulling Kuki up with him.

"That wasn't my job, your idiot children screwed up again!"

Suddenly, Kuki felt Wally's hand ripped from hers. She stumbled backwards and felt someone grab her by the waist before she hit the ground.

As she was pulled her to her feet she heard a hurried whisper in her ear. "We're gonna get you outta here, Numbuh 3."

"Numbuh 362?"

"Shh," was the only answer Kuki received. She could feel something heavy being placed over her eyes. They seemed to be goggles, however they did little to help her see through the thick smog that now hung in the air.

She grabbed Numbuh 362's arm as she adjusted the goggles.

"Numbuh 2 and Numbuh 5 they're here, we need to..." A hand suddenly clamped down over her mouth and she heard a quiet whisper in her ear once again.

"We've got them. Don't speak. Just follow me."

Kuki gasped as the strange goggles flashed and gave her an oddly green view of the scene around her. Numbuh 362 was directly in front of her, adjusting something on the goggles. To her left she could see two figures wrestling on the cement. She searched the area, looking for the Delightfuls, but they had disappeared.

Numbuh 362 motioned for Kuki to follow her and they began to sprint towards the garage door. Kuki watched as she pressed something on her belt. The garage door suddenly blew off its hinges and fell to the ground. Everything around them seemed to shake. Piles of boxes fell and machine parts spun across the floor.

It was so hard to see the little pieces, now scattered about the floor, with the stupid goggles on her face. Numbuh 362 must have felt the same way because she suddenly growled, twisted around and grabbed Kuki's goggles. She pushed a button under the right lens and Kuki felt the grip of the goggles lessen. As they continued their run, Kuki pushed them up her forehead.

She could see the smog had dissipated a great deal, allowing them to safely dodge the materials that littered the floor.

Only a few feet from the door, Kuki heard a commotion behind her. As she turned, she felt someone grab her arm. Looking up, Kuki was greeted by the sight of a badly bruised Nigel Uno pulling her with him.

"Run!"

She could hear large metal objects crashing to the ground behind her as they sprinted towards the opening. The ground suddenly began to shake and, to her horror, opened beneath their feet. Nigel's grip on her slipped and all three of them plummeted into the chasm. Kuki screamed as she felt the horrifying sensation of free-falling.

In a panic, she tried to grab a hold of anything to keep herself from falling further into the black hole beneath her, but her hands kept slipping. She suddenly felt someone pull on her left arm and her body painfully come to a stop as she dangled helplessly. She looked up and saw a frazzled looking Numbuh 362 gripping her arm with one hand, and with the other, clinging to some sort of hook she had hastily dug into the wall.

She could feel Numbuh 362's arm shaking as she fought to keep hold of her.

Numbuh 362 directed her attention right below Kuki, to where Numbuh 1 had clearly just come to a stop.

"This is so much more than a recon mission Nigel!"

Nigel looked up sheepishly. "Is that what I said this was?"

Debris from above began to rain down upon them, as Nigel brought his free wrist to his face

"We need reinforcements. Garage. Now!"

He looked back up to Numbuh 362 who was glaring at him. "Oh come on, I saw an opportunity and took it. We couldn't afford for brother to have them much longer."

Kuki suddenly gasped as she felt Numbuh 362's grip on her slip. She wasn't going to be able to hold onto her much longer.

"Oh, now isn't this just too perfect!" The synchronized voices of the Delightfuls echoed through the pit. Kuki looked up to see them surrounding the mouth of the chasm.

"Father will be most pleased with us."

"Well, wouldn't that be a nice change." Nigel taunted.

Kuki watched as each of them glared at Nigel and then turned their attention to Kuki.

"Such a pity you chose them."

She watched as Wally joined their group, bored expression plastered on his beautiful face. Kuki noticed the Delightfuls seemed to tense up in his presence.

Wally locked eyes with Kuki.

How could he just stand there and watch his friends dangling at the mercy of the Delightfuls? Kuki could feel Numbuh 362's grip slipping further.

For a second, Kuki saw an odd look flash in Wally's eyes. Pain? It was too quick for her to be sure.

"They're of no use to us dead." He said turning to the Delightfuls.

"This is our mission not..."

A loud buzzing noise drowned out the Delightfuls. Wally, ignoring them, brought his hand to ear and jumped off to the side.

A wooden flying machine crashed through the ceiling, shooting an odd goo, which sent the Delightfuls scattering. Despite the situation, Kuki couldn't help feeling relieved as she saw "KND" sloppily painted down the side of the aircraft.

More debris came crashing down and Kuki's heart stopped as Numbuh 362's grasp on her finally gave.

Thinking quickly, Kuki twisted in the air and reached out for Nigel. He grabbed her arm and Kuki, once again, found herself dangling over the pit.

She looked up to see two young KND operatives rappelling from the aircraft.

A boy, no older that nine years old, stopped in front of them. He grabbed Kuki's other arm and helped her grasp onto his harness. Once Kuki's grip was secure, Nigel grabbed onto the other side and the three of them were lifted to the surface.

As her feet touched the cracked cement, she could hear an odd rumbling noise echoing throughout the warehouse.

Numbuh 362 turned to her and yelled. "Time to go!"

The three of them took off running out of the building as the KND aircraft disappeared into the night sky.

The rumble behind them grew louder, Kuki turned and gasped as she realized in horror that the roof was coming down.

"Wally!" She screamed and without thinking began to run back towards the building.

Nigel grabbed her and twisted her around, bringing them face to face.

"Trust me Numbuh 3, he made it out fine."

"What the hell is going on, Numbuh 1?" She cried, ripping herself from his grasp.

Nigel gave her an odd look, almost as if he pitied her.

"I'll explain." He grabbed her arm, pulling towards a field behind the now crumbling building. "But we need to get the hell out of here!"

The ground shook as the remainder of the warehouse crashed to the ground. Kuki choked as the dust surrounded them. They caught up with Numbuh 362 who was yelling orders and pushing buttons on strange bracelet. The bracelet lit up and made an odd noise.

Kuki heard the revving of an engine and soon saw the outline of Nigel's black sports car speeding towards them. She lifted the neck of her shirt over her nose, in an attempt to breathe through the wave of dust now washing over them.

The car screeched to a halt in front of them.

"Get in!"

Kuki grabbed the backseat door and jumped in, pulling the door closed behind her. She coughed, thankful for the clean air of the car.

As the car sped off, Kuki noticed the whole building had erupted in flames. She sat back in the seat, heart racing and more confused than she had ever been.

What the hell had just happened?

As she caught her breath she looked up to the front seat where Numbuh's 1 and 362 sat, Nigel driving and Rachel playing with her bracelet again.

"Are they okay?" She choked out through gasps.

Numbuh 362 looked up from her bracelet to Numbuh 1, clearly uncomfortable.

"Abby and Hoagie...are they okay?" Kuki repeated, more urgently.

Nigel cleared his throat and looked at Kuki in the rearview mirror. She noticed he wasn't wearing his usual sunglasses. Even in the darkness of the vehicle she could make out the bruises on his face and a few cuts on his forehead.

"They're injured, but they'll be okay."

Kuki turned to look out the window. She could feel the tears she had been holding back throughout this entire ordeal threatening to spill.

"It's not your fault Numbuh 3."

Kuki didn't answer him. It certainly felt like it was her fault.

"Numbuh 1?" His eyes met hers in the rearview mirror. "I wanna know everything."

He smirked.

"I thought you might."


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks so much for the reviews, favorites and follows. It's nice to see people are actually interested in my fun little project :)**

 **As always- I own nothing and this purely for the fun of borrowing some great characters.**

Chapter 8

Kuki watched as Nigel fiddled with something on the dash. A screen suddenly flashed to life on the center console, illuminating the inside of the car. Kuki squinted as her eyes adjusted to the bright blue light now filling the car.

She sighed as the light fell upon her torn and filthy leggings. She bent down and made an attempt to wipe away some of the dirt, only to realize that her hands were just as bad and would do little to help. Frustrated she sat up and focused on Nigel, who was rapidly pressing buttons on the screen.

"Honestly Numbuh 3, there's a lot to tell, considering that you've been out of commission these last four years. I'll try to keep this simple."

"We don't have the clearance to be giving out information to ex-operatives, Numbuh 1." Numbuh 362 interjected.

She turned and gave Kuki an apologetic smile. "No offense Numbuh 3, but we'll already be in enough trouble when they find out you have your memory back."

"Which is something we didn't do and, as far as they know, weren't expecting." Nigel growled.

Rachel ran her hand through her blonde hair, clearly aggravated. "They're already suspicious of us after what happened to Ace. Bringing another teenager into this mix isn't going to help our cause. We can't afford to involve..."

"We can't afford _not_ to involve my team." Nigel quickly cut in. "We were the best the Kids Next Door has ever seen. You said it yourself!"

"Involving someone and throwing unsuspecting civilians in danger based on your stupid sources, are completely different!" Rachel argued.

Nigel said nothing and continued fooling with the screen, clearly agitated with it. Kuki jumped as the headrest in front of her lit up, revealing a screen she had failed to notice before.

"It's too convenient that you suddenly had a project to work on with Kuki, after years of never speaking." Rachel continued. "The board won't miss that, Numbuh 1."

"They weren't giving us a choice and you know it. I had to do something." Nigel sighed and turned to Rachel. "And out of the three of them, Kuki was the safest bet."

Stunned, Kuki sat back in her seat. "Wait a minute, you knew they were gonna kidnap me?"

Nigel glanced at her in the rear view mirror. "It was more along the lines of allowing the inevitable, in a more controlled environment."

Kuki stared at him, completely baffled.

"They've been after the three of you for a while now, you being their prime target. I've spent months trying to get a security team for you. But, the board deemed it unnecessary, due to your status as a teenager. From what my sources told me, the Delightfuls were planning to take you from your house sometime Friday night, which unfortunately, would've involved.."

"My family." Kuki finished, horrified.

"Precisely."

Nigel turned to Rachel. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't include you in on this. But they weren't going to stop until they had her. You saw what they did to Ace and his father, there are no boundaries for them."

Kuki shivered as everything Nigel said set in. Family had always been off limits. It was an unwritten rule that everyone abided, even the evilest of villains they faced.

Rachel shook her head and sighed. "I've agreed with you every step of the way. But tonight, you were reckless. You put your entire team in danger."

"You underestimate my team, Numbuh 362." Nigel said quietly, as he turned onto an empty highway.

Rachel sighed "You shouldn't be involving her, Numbuh 1."

"She's already involved whether she likes it or not. Keeping her in the dark won't help her."

Rachel looked hesitantly at the screen, which now showed an image of Nigel's home.

Nigel pressed another button on the screen, showing his house at different angles. "We need my team and we need her. I mean, did you see how he reacted to her?"

"I've never seen him react like that..." Rachel agreed.

"Proving what I've thought all along, he's not..."

"Fine." Numbuh 362 growled. "Tell her. But she needs to have an option. Not everybody wants back into this life."

Nigel smiled at her and cleared his throat. "As I was saying, let's start simple. For starters, you've only been missing about seven hours."

Kuki didn't know if she should feel relieved or sick. Seven hours wasn't terrible, but it was enough to send her parents into a full on panic. She didn't know how she was going to explain this to them. But she had to at least make sure they knew she was alright.

"Can I call them?"

Nigel hesitated, clearly confused by her question. Numbuh 362 immediately understood and gave her a knowing smile. "We already took care of your family. They have no idea you're even gone."

Kuki opened her mouth to question Numbuh 362, but Nigel continued talking.

"Numbuh 362 and I are considered to be a special operations unit for the Kids Next Door. Being teenagers we're not officially members, however, we work closely enough with them that we may as well be."

Kuki thought back to her thirteenth birthday. Nigel had been there for her decommissioning despite being thirteen himself. "You were never decommissioned."

"No."

Kuki could see him smirking at her in the rear view mirror. "As you astutely noticed during your decommissioning, I was never officially decommissioned. Numbuh 362 and I were "moved," so to speak, to the special ops unit."

Kuki looked to the front seat where two of the best operatives the Kids Next Door had ever seen sat. Sure, she had been out of the Kids Next Door for a while now, but this didn't make sense.

"Don't get me wrong, you were both great leaders, but a teenager is a teenager. The Kids Next Door has never trusted or worked with a teenager. What made you two so different?"

Nigel hesitated a moment, he seemed to be choosing his words carefully when he spoke. "It...it wasn't entirely...our choice..."

He looked to Numbuh 362 for help. She turned to Kuki and continued for him. "There was an issue with the Galactic Kids Next Door. Numbuh 1 and I were crucial in it. So when our birthday's came around we got extensions...which the Kids Next Door made the unofficial special ops unit."

"What was so important that the Kids Next Door would go against their teenager policy?"

"That's classified." Nigel and Rachel added quickly, in unison.

Kuki faltered, a bit surprised at their reactions. "Umm..Okay..."

Numbuh 362 looked at her apologetically. "Anyway...the extension was never meant to last this long. As soon as our final mission with the Galactic Kids Next Door was over, we were scheduled to be decommissioned. But as we ended our mission, Father's newest protégé began wreaking havoc."

Nigel pressed a button and the screen in front of Kuki began to play a recording of the night that changed everything for her. She watched herself jump out of a familiar Shelby Mustang in front of Nigel Uno's home. She shuttered as her past self ignorantly walked up the driveway.

After the recording of herself entered the house, Kuki watched as Hoagie pulled out of the driveway and Wally slowly crawled from the bushes.

Kuki gasped in horror as she watched Wally slink up to the doorway. She knew she had heard someone in the bushes.

The video paused as Wally began to climb the porch and zoomed in on him.

"Numbuh 4." Kuki whispered.

Nigel cleared his throat and picked up where Numbuh 362 left off. "He is Father's not-so-secret weapon. They call him _Brother_ , and he is without a doubt the best and most dangerous operative I have ever encountered. He has destroyed bases, broken up some of the best sectors, dismantled the Galactic Kids Next Door, stolen classified information and delightfulized some of the best operatives."

Kuki shook her head, unable to believe that this was the same Wally from her childhood.

"The Kids Next Door has needed all the help they can get just dealing with him, so we were kept on as the special ops unit. Occasionally they will add more overage operatives, but only out of necessity. The Kids Next Door is currently in survival mode."

"How?" Kuki's voice cracked as she spoke. "What happened to him?"

Nigel sighed. "Wally's life after his decommissioning was pretty standard. He showed no signs of instability, he became active in sports, his grades remained the same, no family tragedies...there was nothing that would have indicated such a sudden change."

He hesitated a moment and rubbed his head. "I'm sure you remember my infamous fight?"

Of course she remembered the fight, it was one of the many reasons Nigel was the most feared person in her school. It was just after she was decommissioned. Her memory had been wiped at that point, so she had paid little attention to the minor details, as it had nothing to do with her.

"I didn't see it, but I remember hearing about it. You got thrown into the office door, stood up like it was nothing and kicked someone into a fountain. I remember that the whole hall was flooded. Rumor is that you got the other kid expelled. But what does this have to do..." Kuki gasped as she remembered an odd detail from that day, an angry blonde haired boy running down the hall, punching lockers.

He threw something and it hit the locker next to her head. Startled, she yelped and dropped her books. In her mind's eye, she could see his angry emerald eyes soften as he realized what he had done. He spoke to her, but it seemed crazy to her at the time. She didn't even know him and he was talking to her like they were best friends.

"Wally!" Kuki cried. "I never thought about it afterward. I mean, he had a black eye and he was bleeding from his forehead, at the time I just assumed he was confused. He kept saying the number 3 over and over...I didn't get it. I offered to help him to the nurse. But he got upset with me."

Silent tears began to slowly drip down her face. He had needed her and she had failed him.

She tried to wipe her face before they saw, but Numbuh 362 was too observant. She handed Kuki a small package of tissues, with a soft smile. "You were decommissioned, Numbuh 3. There's nothing you could've done."

Nigel turned off at an exit that Kuki didn't recognize.

His voice seemed hallow as he spoke. "It was the angriest I have ever seen him. He wasn't rational. He kept yelling that I had lied to him and that I was going to pay. It took only a few seconds to realize that despite his confusion, he had his memory back. He was drawing a crowd, so I did the only thing I could think of to shut him up, I started a fight."

Nigel pushed a button and a blurry image popped up on the screen. She recognized the familiar hallway of her school. Two hazy figures were pounding on each other as a group began to surround them. She could see Nigel's sunglasses fall to the ground and Wally's orange sweatshirt being ripped over his distinct blonde head. Kuki breathed a sigh of relief as Nigel paused the video.

"We both got suspended. I tried to find him afterward, but it was like he disappeared. I spoke to Wally's parents, they were furious and sent him to boarding school as a punishment."

Kuki nodded as she wiped her eyes, thinking of the many times Wally was sent to boarding school when they were kids. He had never lasted more than a few days. He always broke out or did something to get himself kicked out. Every time he came back with an exaggerated story of how he narrowly escaped impending doom.

"For a while, it seemed like his parents had finally found a boarding school that could handle him. I was actually impressed, until about a year later, when we came across him again."

Nigel pressed a button and the screen switched over to a picture of twisted metal and dark smoke.

Kuki squinted, trying to make out the contents of the picture. "What is it?"

"The inside of the Kids Next Door Moonbase."

Kuki's heart dropped. Upon closer inspection she could make out a few smashed bits of familiar weapons and machines littering the ground.

"What happened?" She asked, though not sure what wanted to hear the answer.

"The Kids Next Door's first run in with Brother. Unfortunately, we've never been able to rebuild the Moonbase back up to its original glory."

Kuki felt like she was going to be sick. "Wally did all this?"

"He was like a machine, he did it within minutes. Although, I believe he had some outside help, because his hacking skills were far too advanced."

"Was anybody hurt?

"His goal was to steal, not to hurt anyone. He set it up as a malfunction, which triggered the evacuation call. By the time the Moonbase was destroyed, most of the kids were already gone."

Kuki rubbed her face and looked out the window. She felt numb as she watched the dark outlines of trees and brush rush past her window. At some point it had started to rain, causing a steady drizzle to trail down her window.

"So Numbuh 4 works for Father. But what did he want with Hoagie, Abby and I? We've been out of commission for way too long to be of any help to him."

"I don't think it was Numbuh 4 that wanted you." Numbuh 1 said, as he turned onto a dirt path. "That mission was run by the Delightfuls, not by him. There were too many stupid mistakes. Brother doesn't make mistakes. My sources indicated that he had another mission, he wasn't even supposed to be there."

"So...why was he there?" Kuki wondered aloud.

"That's the real question. Brother has never felt the need to help out the Delightfuls before. They don't exactly get along."

"So you think..." Kuki screamed as she watched Nigel's car make a sharp turn off the path and travel down a steep and rocky hill. Mud splashed up and painted the window to her left as the car bounced.

She watched as Numbuh 362 spoke into her bracelet. "Numbuh 362 requesting clearance."

The bracelet lit up and a small voice could be heard over the sound of the wheels on the rocky terrain.

"Granted."

Kuki watched in awe as a hatch lifted from the ground, revealing a narrow tunnel. She heard Nigel rev the engine as he sped to the mouth of the passageway.

Kuki clung to her seat as the car began to race through the winding, pitch black tunnel. She closed her eyes as all the twisting began to make her feel nauseous. She could feel her belt tightening as Nigel took a few tight turns.

To her relief she could feel the car finally begin to slow. She opened her eyes, praying that this little part of their journey was over. They were approaching a large door with two kids standing guard on the sides. She looked up and saw three more on a bridge above it.

"This the Kids Next Door Underground Base of Operations. It's been functioning for about a decade now, but they expanded it after the Moonbase incident." Nigel parked the car in front of the door and turned to her.

"Say nothing and follow my lead."

Kuki jumped as all the doors of Nigel's car were ripped open by a group of angry-looking kids with water guns.

Nigel and Numbuh 362 both turned and smiled at the kids that surrounded them, and stepped out. Kuki turned to the miserable kid holding her door open, pointing a water gun at her face. She was definitely not in the mood for this.

She sighed and stepped out of the car.

"Numbuh 49, tell Numbuh 258 that she needs to take a look at my main screen, its acting up again." Nigel said nonchalantly, as he tossed his keys to the largest kid.

Numbuh 49 caught the keys and wrote something on a notepad. He then turned to a small girl with freckles behind him. "You got anything about her?" He asked motioning to Kuki.

She looked through her notes a moment and shook her head.

"Well it wouldn't be in your notes, I only just spoke to the Supreme Leader. You can ask yourself if you don't believe me."

Numbuh 49 turned to Nigel. "The Supreme Leader is not to be bothered now, the boards in an important meeting."

"Yes, an important meeting that we need to be at." Nigel said pointing to her and Numbuh 362.

Numbuh 49 seemed to become flustered. "Well...without...ummm permission from the..."

"She's Numbuh 3." Nigel stated exasperatedly. "Look up Numbuh 3 and tell me if our Supreme Leader would have a problem with her entering the base."

The small girl with freckles scurried over to Kuki. She grabbed her hand and placed it on a tablet. She smiled at Kuki and pulled the tablet away when it lit up.

She stared at it for a few moments and then rushed over to Numbuh 49. They began to whisper together and look from the tablet to Kuki.

"We don't have all day." Nigel grumbled.

Numbuh 49 grabbed something from his pocket and walked over to Kuki. "We'll let her through, but she's gotta wear one of these." He attached a bracelet similar to Numbuh 362's to her wrist.

He turned and waved to a boy on the bridge. A small door off to the left opened for them, while the group of the kids ran to the car. Numbuh 49 saluted to Nigel and walked back to his post.

When they were through the door, Nigel turned to her and smiled. "Believe it or not, that was the easy part."

Kuki looked around and realized the room was empty with the exception of five elevator doors. Numbuh 362 walked over to a screen on the wall and pressed her hand to it. It immediately lit up and she began to type something.

"We're going to be meeting with the board." He rubbed the back of his head and watched Numbuh 362. "They aren't very happy with me right now, so make sure you say nothing."

Unable to help herself Kuki asked. "Who is this _board_?"

Kuki heard the sound of an elevator running up the shaft. Numbuh 362 turned and smiled at her. "It's an unfortunate consequence of our special ops unit."

A small bell sounded, indicating that the elevator had arrived. It opened and the group stepped in.

Numbuh 362 pressed the number 5 and then continued. "As you can imagine, once word of the special ops unit got out, it started a lot of fear and distrust. Kids were scared that teenagers were taking over. The role of Supreme Leader began to be questioned, as it was the Supreme Leader at the time who set up the unit. So they created the board, which is a group of Kids Next Door leaders. This way if the role of Supreme Leader was ever compromised, there would still be order."

"How's that been working out?" Kuki asked

Numbuh 1 rolled his eyes. "It's chaos"

The elevator opened to a quiet landing with no windows. It took Kuki a moment to realize that she was now five stories underground.

Nigel led the through a narrow hallway to a door which read "HQ." As he opened it Kuki immediately understood what Numbuh 1 meant. A group of about ten kids sat around a large table, each one yelling over another.

As the door opened the kids hushed and turned to face them. Kuki noticed that most of them were dressed in their pajamas. One small girl even held a purple rainbow monkey in her arms.

"It's 3 in the morning!"

"This had better be good Nigel."

The group began to murmur in agreement. One boy propped his feet up on the table, showing off fluffy bunny slippers.

A tough looking girl with her brown hair in pigtails stood up and shouted to Nigel. "Who authorized a teenager to be brought into HQ?"

"She's the one they took. Numbuh 902." A boy next to her calmly explained. He was one of the few not wearing his pajamas. He wore a dark uniform, covered in dirt. He ran a hand over the top of his dark curls, sending a small cloud of ashes into the air.

"I don't care who she is. She doesn't belong in the base and she certainly doesn't belong in HQ." Numbuh 902 growled.

The boy next to her rolled his eyes and turned to Numbuh 1. "Recon mission?"

Numbuh 1 grabbed a chair and motioned for Kuki to sit. Numbuh 362 grabbed the seat next to her and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Sorry about that, Numbuh 72. We saw an opportunity and took it. I didn't want to take any chances, especially with Brother involved."

He turned to the rest of the board and continued. "I have surveillance footage of him assisting in the kidnapping of Numbuh's 3, 2 and 5, formally of Sector V at 8pm."

Numbuh 72 nodded and then turned to a boy in a blue pajamas, who sighed and grabbed a strange remote. He pressed a button and the screen behind him lit up. It showed a silent video of Wally fighting a group of kids. "Well then Brother has been very busy. He broke into Sector G's tree house around 7:15. Trashed the place, but luckily he didn't get anything."

"The kidnapping a group of teenagers, doesn't warrant waking the entire board up at 3am!" Shouted Numbuh 902.

"It does when Brother shows up, especially when everyone taken was a part of his old sector." Nigel calmly retorted.

Nigel pointed to Kuki. "They were prepping her to become one of them and this time Brother was overseeing it."

The whole group froze and stared at Kuki.

At this point Numbuh 362 spoke up. "Brother actually acknowledged her. His reactions to her were human. He knew who she was."

Nigel put his hand on Kuki's shoulder. "Proving what I've thought all along. Brother was never delightfulized. He thinks and acts for himself, which is why we've had such a hard time stopping him. But we might've finally found his kryptonite."

The board once again began to murmur.

Numbuh 902 groaned and looked around the table at her fellow board members.

"You guys don't actually believe this crud do you?"

She glared at Nigel. "This is just some stupid teenage ploy to get the rest of his sector re-commissioned. We don't need "kryptonite" to defeat Brother. He already messed up his mission..."

"No he didn't."

Startled Kuki turned. She didn't even hear anyone enter with all the yelling. Behind her stood three kids. Two boys on each end, and in the middle was Mushi.

Kuki opened her mouth, ready to ask her sister what she was doing here, when she felt someone stomp on her foot. She held her breath trying not to yell out and looked over to see Numbuh 362 slightly shaking her head.

She looked back to Mushi, who was now walking up to the table.

"Brother completed his mission within the first five minutes of stepping foot into Sector G's tree house. He hacked our system. Stealing all the names and current whereabouts of deactivated operatives from the last ten years."

Nigel looked as if he was going to be sick.

Mushi looked around the table. "As Supreme Leader I motion that Nigel's team be reinstated immediately. Brother must be stopped!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Wow this chapter took much longer to finish than expected. But I haven't forgotten about my little story :) Thank you for your reviews!  
**

Chapter 9

 _"As Supreme Leader I motion that Nigel's team be reinstated immediately. Brother must be stopped!"_

Kuki stared in shock at her sister as she confidently strode over to the table. She looked nothing like the awkward little kid who sat upside down watching television in the family room. Her normally tangled hair was up in a neat ponytail and a black jumpsuit replaced her typical bright and eclectic attire.

Mushi motioned to one of the boys behind her, who handed her a remote. The screen behind the table lit up with same video Kuki had seen just moments ago, only at a much slower speed. The table watched in awe as Wally twisted, while fighting two members of the team, and shot something at Sector G's main computer.

Kuki numbly sat back in her seat. Wally shot mid-twist and did it so quickly, if you didn't pay attention to his movements, you missed it.

Where had he learned to shoot like that? He barely even looked at his target.

She watched as Mushi sped up the video. It was like watching something out of an action movie. Every move Wally made seemed calculated, moving him closer to the computer. Every kick, punch and dodge was perfectly executed. The kids of Sector G didn't stand a chance against him.

She now understood why Nigel compared him to a machine. Numbuh 4 never fought like that when he was in the Kids Next Door. Sure, he was always a skilled fighter but he was sloppy, which Kuki felt had a lot to do with his temper.

Kuki felt sick watching Wally's cold and mechanical moves. Mushi slowed the video down once again and zoomed in on Wally.

She watched as he threw a taller kid with red hair against the computer. Kuki shuttered as they watched the kid's body slam into the main screen, creating tiny cracks around the point of impact. Before the kid could fall to the ground, Wally grabbed him by the throat and pulled him up. As he did, he pulled a small black object from the computer and stowed it in his sleeve.

It happened in a matter of seconds.

The screen went dead. Mushi sighed and turned to the table, her determined eyes almost daring anyone to question her decision after seeing that video.

The table was unnaturally silent as each kid let this new information sink in.

Numbuh 72 slowly stood and locked eyes with Mushi. "I second that motion."

"You would!" Shouted Numbuh 902, the silence of the table shattered by her shrill voice. "Numbuh 1 handpicked you himself to lead his precious former sector. Of course you'd side with them."

"They're on our side, Numbuh 902." Numbuh 72 groaned. Kuki could see dark circles under his eyes. The poor kid looked as if he hadn't slept in days.

"And what about Ace then? He was on _our_ side too, right?" Numbuh 902 shouted, glaring at Numbuh 72.

"Too far, Numbuh 902!" Nigel shouted as he quickly got to his feet, knocking his chair over behind him.

"Nigel!" Kuki heard Numbuh 362 hurriedly whisper.

"Ace was just as loyal to the Kids Next Door as any of you! We need to stop Brother and the Delightfuls before they brainwash anyone else."

Mushi gave Nigel a cautionary look and spoke up from the head of the table "We have information that leads us to believe that what happened to Ace, was just a test. If it worked on Ace, it'll definitely work on any one of the ex-operatives they go after."

Mushi directed everyone's attention to the screen, which sprang to life once again."And with ten years worth of ex-operatives, they'll have a lot to choose from."

On the screen, a list of countless names began to scroll from the top. Kuki gasped as she watched the amount of information scrolling. It was so much more than just ex-operatives names and locations. She watched as photographs, addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, rankings in the Kids Next Door, strengths and weaknesses, all scrolled down the screen.

With this information the Delightfuls could handpick the best operatives and create their own super army.

She groaned as she watched her own name and personal information scroll down the page. Unable to control herself she turned to Mushi. "Why the hell would the KND keep this kind of information in such an easily accessible place?"

Mushi shook her head. "That's just it, we don't. Brother should never have been able to access that kind of information, especially in the base of a Sector. We think they have someone on the inside"

Numbuh 902's mirthless laugh filled the room. "You think! I could've told you that a long time ago! We didn't have problems like this before the teenage unit!"

"You're being dramatic, the Kids Next Door faced problems like this long before we had a special ops team of teenagers." Mushi calmly replied.

Numbuh 902's face was crimson with frustration. Ignoring Mushi's response she turned to the board and continued her rant.

"Don't you see what they're doing. They're infiltrating the Kids Next Door and our own leader is letting it happen. I mean just look at her!"

Kuki sighed as Numbuh 902 pointed an accusing finger towards her. Every eye at the table was suddenly staring in her direction.

"You think it's a coincidence that the supreme leader's sister is the first one they..."

"I don't care whose sister she is." Shouted a voice from the far end of the table. Kuki turned to see a small girl, with her caramel hair in braids, rising out of her seat.

"The fact is, Numbuh 1 has been nothing but loyal to us, despite his age. And we have yet to see another team that was as good as his Sector V. If she's a part of that team, then I want her on our side."

Numbuh 902 looked viciously in the girls direction "How weak. No wonder Brother was able to hack your systems, Numbuh 618!"

Angry murmurs could be heard throughout the small room. Upon closer inspection of the girl, Kuki recognized her as one of the kids fighting Wally in the video. Most kids would've lost it, but Numbuh 618 merely rolled her eyes.

"Shut up Clarisse, my sector is top rated and you know it. We did everything we could to stop Brother and it wasn't good enough. Nothing the Kids Next Door has done lately has been good enough to stop him."

She smiled sadly at Nigel. "So let's see what your team can do, teenager."

All around the table murmurs of agreement could be heard.

Mushi scanned the table. "All in favor?"

Every hand but Numbuh 902's shot up.

"Then its settled. Nigel's team will be reinstated as soon as Numbuh's 2 and 5 are fully recovered. Everybody go home and get some sleep."

Fully recovered? She turned a questioning gaze to Nigel, but he was busy watching Numbuh 902 as she loudly complained to a kid next to her.

Kuki watched as the board quickly filed out of the room, all anxious to get back to bed. Numbuh 902 pushed her way to the door to ensure she was one of the first out. Before she left she turned and glared at Kuki, as if the situation was all her fault.

A few board members stopped and spoke to Mushi quietly. Kuki couldn't hear them, but she assumed it had something to do with her, as they kept looking back at her during the conversation.

Kuki saw her chance and turned to Rachel and Nigel. "What does Mushi mean about fully recovered? I mean, how did Abby and Hoagie get involved at all? We watched them drive away on the video."

Nigel and Rachel exchanged an odd glance and a proud look came across Numbuh 1's face as Numbuh 362 spoke.

"You've got some loyal friends Numbuh 3. Hoagie and Abby did a couple laps around the neighborhood after you walked in. Must've been in case you ran out screaming."

Kuki couldn't help but smile at her friends over protectiveness.

"They were making their laps and spotted you being thrown into the van. Abby's phone records show she tried to call the police, while Hoagie pursued the vehicle."

"Tried?"

Nigel nodded. "It was a valiant effort on their part, but the Delightfuls must've jammed Abby's signal, her call to the police never went through."

He sighed and looked Kuki directly in the eyes. "They're going to be just fine, Kuki. Bu you've seen the car, so you know he pretty much totaled it."

Kuki shuttered as she thought of the car sitting under the sheet at the warehouse.

"Numbuh 2 has always been a skilled driver so we can only assume Brother and the Delightfuls somehow caused him to lose control of the car. I had a tracker on Numbuh 2's car, which is how we found you. It shows that about 10 miles from my house the car sat for about a half hour, before going to the warehouse. We assume that's where the accident happened. We went to the scene, but Brother has a very talented cleanup crew. Until we talk to Numbuh 2 and Numbuh 5, we won't actually know what happened."

By now the board members talking to Mushi had left, making Numbuh 72 the only board member left. Numbuh 72 had his feet propped up on the table, clearly having no intention of leaving anytime soon.

"Can I see them?"

Mushi spoke up as she sat at the table. "Not now, we had to pull a lot of strings to get them into St. Mary's Hospital without proof of the accident."

Kuki's face must've shown the horror she felt because Mushi hurriedly added. "It's not as bad as it sounds, they only received minor injuries. We're the ones who knocked them out."

This didn't make Kuki feel much better.

"They saw too much tonight. You at least got your memory back, they were in the dark the whole time. So they have a lot of obvious questions and will need to be re-commissioned, which is a dangerous process."

Nigel nodded and added. "We think that's why Brother got involved tonight. He wanted to make sure the Delightful's did the re-commissioning process correctly."

Kuki thought of the warehouse going up in flames. The car definitely wouldn't have made it through that. "What about Hoagie's family. How are you going to explain the car?"

Mushi pulled her hair from her pony tail and shook it out, rubbing her head. "I've had a team working on that for hours now. We found a junked Shelby, painted it red, staged an accident and dumped the car in the lake."

Kuki wasn't sure what Hoagie would find worse, his precious car sinking to the bottom of the lake, or blowing up in the warehouse.

"You're not supposed to know anything about Abby and Hoagie's accident. Mom and Dad will probably get a call from the Gilligan's or the Lincoln's tomorrow. Just play dumb. As far as anyone's concerned, Nigel Uno drove you home last night."

"When are you going to re-commission them?"

Nigel stood and stretched. "Hopefully sometime this week. Their bodies just need some rest."

A snore from Numbuh 72 made them all jump. Mushi smirked and pushed his feet off of the table, startling him awake. He blinked a few times and groggily glared at Mushi.

"Come on Numbuh 393. Thanks to Numbuh 1's little _Recon Mission_ I haven't slept in almost 48hours."

Mushi's playful smile turned serious as she rounded on Nigel. "Speaking of which, I can't believe you let it get that far, Numbuh 1!"

Numbuh 72 smirked at Nigel. "Told you she'd flip."

"You forget who your sister is." Nigel sighed. "Numbuh 3 handled herself very well. When we got there she had already escaped them and was on her way to the exit."

Mushi shook her head. "A little warning would have been nice. The boards already on edge after what happened with Ace."

"The boards on edge because Numbuh 902 can't shut her mouth." Numbuh 72 quipped, as he made himself comfortable in the seat once again.

"What happened to Ace?"

Kuki immediately regretted her question as she watched a pained look come across the faces of everyone in the room.

After a long awkward silence, Numbuh 72 spoke up. "The Delightfuls got him. They brainwashed him and did a number on his dad. We haven't seen him...but our informants tell us he's there...he put up a really good fight..."

Kuki nodded, not needing to hear anymore.

"You don't think that's what happened to Numbuh 4?"

Nigel shook his head. "I don't, his reactions tonight were proof of that. He remembers you. Ace remembers none of us. He doesn't even remember his own father."

Kuki nodded, wishing there was an easy explanation for Wally's actions. She rubbed her face, suddenly aware of how tired she was.

"So what's the plan Numbuh 1? We can't let Numbuh 4 do this but...he's our friend...well he was...I don't wanna fight him."

Nigel sighed. "I understand...but we can't let him destroy the Kids Next Door. The current plan is to get the team back together and do everything in our power to stop him."

Kuki stared at the floor. "The team isn't _really_ back together without Numbuh 4.'

Nigel sat down across from her. "It's not. But I think he'll have a harder time fighting against all of us, especially you."

"I just have a hard time believing that Wally just suddenly decided to do this. I'm telling you Numbuh 1, something happened to him or he's there against his will...this isn't his choice..."

Kuki looked up and saw several pitying looks cast in her direction.

Nigel smiled. "Maybe you're right...but you have a big heart numbuh 3..." He looked into Kuki's eyes and seemed unable to finish his thought.

"I think what Numbuh 1 is trying to say is that you need to be careful." Numbuh 72 finished for him. "Your big heart could put you in danger of being manipulated. The Delightfuls didn't miss Brother's reactions to you. I overheard the blonde one complaining about his...excuse me... _stupid little obsession with the bitch_."

Kuki watched as Numbuh 72's cheeks turned a bright red. "Even if Brother doesn't target you, I think the Delightfuls might. "

Nigel nodded in agreement. "Numbuh 3, this is Numbuh 72, the leader of Kids Next Door Sector V. It was his team that we called in for back up tonight."

Numbuh 72 gave her an exhausted smile and reached into his pocket.

"I almost forgot...we pulled this from Nigel's house."

Kuki smiled as he set her phone in front of her. She tapped the screen and saw she had a few missed calls and several text messages, presumably from her worried friends.

"Thank you."

Numbuh 72 smiled and checked his watch. "We better hurry, that stuff we used to knock out the Sanbans is gonna wear off by 6am. It's already past 4."

Kuki was relieved that it was time to leave. She still had a lot of questions, but the night had taken its toll on her. Her whole body ached, her clothes were a mess and she was pretty sure that much like Numbuh 72, her hair was full of ashes from the warehouse fire.

Nigel stretched as he stood. "What happened with the security system."

Mushi smirked. "The moment I found out they had her I sent a team over to set one up."

"Good." Nigel turned to Kuki, an odd expression on his face. and motioned to follow him. Numbuh 362 and Numbuh 72 both started for the door.

Kuki followed, but stopped as she got to Mushi, taking in the sight of the Kids Next Door's current leader. It killed her to think that there was once a time when they were inseparable. As the supreme leader, Mushi must have been away quite often. How had Kuki never noticed?

"Mushi...I.."

Before she could say another word she found herself unexpectedly pulled into a bone crushing hug. Tears pierced her eyes as she squeezed her younger sister.

"I'm ...really proud of you."

Kuki pulled back and watched her sister wipe her eyes, a grin on her face. When she looked up Kuki noticed that despite her smile, she looked as exhausted as Numbuh 72.

"Are you coming with us?"

Mushi shook her head. "Mom and dad think I'm at a sleepover. So I have a few hours."

Kuki nodded.

"Numbuh 72 will be the one overseeing your reinstatement back into the Kids Next Door...well special ops unit. Since I'm your sister I'm not allowed to have any part of it." Mushi rolled her eyes and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "Stupid new rules. But I'll be watching from here."

She smiled and pointed to the screen behind the table.

"Reinstated?" Kuki asked stunned.

Mushi nodded. "Our system has you listed as an inactive teenage threat. So unless we activate you within the Kids Next Door database, we have to do a memory wipe. It's part of the..."

"New rules, I get it." Kuki finished agitated.

Mushi smiled and sat down, turning the screen on.

Kuki walked out to find Rachel waiting for her. She smiled at Kuki and turned down the hall. Kuki fell in step with her.

"You still have a choice you know?"

Kuki looked questioningly at the former supreme leader.

"This isn't going to be an easy battle...are you sure you want this?"

Kuki nodded, thinking of the blonde haired boy of her childhood. She had to do this.

"I want back in."

"Good." Nigel smiled as the girls met him and Numbuh 72 at the elevator.

The elevator stopped on their floor and Nigel rushed everyone in.

"We've got to hurry, we can't risk your parents waking up before you're there."

As soon as the doors closed Numbuh 72 grabbed her arm and began to fiddle with the bracelet on her arm.

"The ones they give out for visitors are garbage."

He pulled a thick green bracelet out of his pocket and attached it to her wrist. This one felt much heavier than the other and made a low humming noise. Upon closer inspection, Kuki realized there were small Japanese symbols written in black on the bracelet. She recognized various symbols of luck etched onto to its surface.

She smiled knowing this was Mushi's doing.

The elevator doors opened to the first floor, labeled _Decommissioning_. They stepped into a narrow white hall with several doors labeled by letters. Numbuh 72 led them to a door labeled _B_ and pressed his hand on a screen to the right of the door. It lit up the thick door slid open.

Thinking of her own decommissioning, Kuki was a bit surprised. The large white room was fairly empty aside from a large chair next to a machine that looked very similar to a copier. Looking for the rest of the machinery she searched the room, only to find a skinny metal door and a large mirror to the left.

Next to her Nigel could be hear snickering. "Four years is a long time Numbuh 3. They've made a few updates."

Next to him, Numbuh 72 opened the metal door and disappeared.

Nigel checked his watch again. "We need to hurry."

Rachel sighed. "This should only take a minute."

She turned to Kuki. "We're gonna need any electronic device on you."

Kuki immediately handed Rachel the cell phone. "That's it."

Nigel walked over with a metal stick that he waved around her body. He nodded to Rachel, who motioned for Kuki to follow her.

"Okay take a seat and put your arm with the bracelet, through the machine."

Confused Kuki looked closer at the chair and saw there was a large metal ring protruding from the side of the machine next to it.

Kuki sat down and put her arm through the ring. She gasped as she felt a magnetic force grab the bracelet, holding it in place.

"It's okay, it's supposed to do that. We just need to activate you in the system and assign you to the special ops unit."

"What's with the bracelet?"

Numbuh 362 laughed and pointed to her own. "Yeah, these are new. It's a physical link to the Kids Next Door. They're actually pretty handy, it's like having a remote to everything."

Kuki heard shouting coming from the room with the metal door. "Stand back Numbuh 362, it's starting up."

Rachel backed up a bit and leaned against the wall.

Kuki heard the machine next to her slowly come to life. The ring where her arm was placed lit up an electric blue and the bracelet began to feel warm against her wrist.

She looked nervously to Numbuh 362, but she just smiled. This must be normal.

Kuki took a deep breath. She couldn't wait to go home and rest her nerves, she was pretty sure they'd had enough for one night.

She jumped as a piercing alarm went off, echoing throughout the sterile room. The blue light surrounding her wrist suddenly turned a deadly red. Rachel's eyes widened and she pushed off the wall shouting. Kuki couldn't hear her over the computerized voice repeatedly screeching "Spy."

Kuki felt a jolt go up her arm and felt herself slump in the chair as her vision went blurry.

Everything sounded so far away. She strained her ears, hoping to make sense of this mess.

"Out..."

"Spy!"

"Get her out of that..."

"Spy!"

"Evacuate.."

"Bugged.."

"Spy!"

Her mind went fuzzy, everything seemed to run together. She could feel herself being carried, while several loud voices hurt her ears. She could hear the hum of a motor and the clicking of a turn signal. She opened her eyes to two faces speaking slowly to her, it was too blurry to make out their identities. She was relieved to feel herself suddenly laying on something soft. She shivered as a ghostly wind blew across her skin. The cold didn't last, as something warm was soon covering her. A kiss on the forehead was the last thing she felt before she drifted off into darkness.

It felt like mere moments later that she was being pulled back to the world of the living by a tinkling noise to her right. She rolled over to see her phone lit up behind a small vase of flowers.

Disoriented she carefully grabbed for the phone and awkwardly answered, too tired to pull the charger cord from the phone.

"Hullo..." She answered drowsily, the cord threatening to pull the phone from her hand.

"Kuki, thank god!"

"What...who is this?" Coming out of her stupor, Kuki suddenly recognized the voice.

"Nigel?" She looked around the room confused as to how she got back to her bedroom. "Wait...what happened?"

She heard Nigel sigh on the other end. "There was a problem with your activation. I'm on my way over now. I'll explain when I get there."

A loud crash made kuki jump. She looked down to see the little vase of flowers smashed on the ground.

"What was that?" Nigel snipped on the other end, clearly not in a good mood.

"It's fine, I knocked over the flowers with my power cord."

"Flowers?"

"Yeah, they were on my nightstand. Do you have to..."

"I put you to bed myself...there were no flowers on your nightstand."

Kuki stretched out and glanced back down at the flowers. "Well, there are n..."

Kuki gasped and dropped the phone onto the glass shards now littering her carpet. She could hear Nigel's shouts coming from the phone. She knew should pick it up and let him know she's okay, but the sight on the floor kept her frozen in place.

Four orange flowers laid innocently on the floor with a note a few inches away reading " _Spy"_.


	10. Chapter 10

**Nope, still haven't forgotten about my little story :) Thank you to everyone who reviewed.  
**

 **Note: I own nothing, everything written is purely for fun.**

Chapter 10

" _Spy_."

A look of pure disgust flashed across Nigel's face as he crumpled the small note in his hand. He fell back on her bed and rubbed his face.

"He was watching."

Kuki sat cross-legged on the floor, slumped against her bedroom wall staring at Nigel. She pulled the blanket closer around her small frame as she listened, utterly confused and exhausted. Her hair was a mess, make-up smeared around her eyes and she was still in the clothes from yesterday.

Nigel himself didn't look much better. He had dark circles under his eyes and a large bruise on his cheek. By the looks of his outfit, Nigel at least had the chance to change his clothes and shower.

"How?" Kuki heard her exhausted voice croak.

Nigel laid motionless on her bed for a few moments. She was beginning to think he'd fallen asleep, when he sat back up and stared at her.

"You were bugged."

"What?" Kuki shook her head in disbelief. "How could we have missed that?"

Nigel looked down, glaring at his hands. "Apparently his hacking went further than we thought. He was able to override the operating systems that pick up on foreign technology. He heard everything and knew exactly where you were."

Nigel pulled his phone put of his pocket and fiddled with it a moment, before handing it to Kuki.

She grasped the slim black phone in her hand and took in the picture on its screen. It was picture of the hem of her filthy shirt.

Confused, she looked up at Nigel. He bent down and moved the screen to the next picture. It was zoomed in a bit more and Kuki could clearly see something small attached to her shirt, hidden by the dirt covering the area.

Nigel moved the screen once more and it was a picture of what looked to be a bit of black tin laying on a metal table.

"We're lucky the machine used to activate operatives is on a different system, or we never would have caught it in time. I should've had you change before entering the base."

Nigel grabbed his phone back, looking as if he was going to be sick.

"It's not your fault, Numbuh 1."

"They had to evacuate and destroy the entire base because of me, Numbuh 3." He threw the phone on the bed next to him. "I was careless."

Nigel stood and began to pace the room. He picked up the bag of flowers and glass shards that Kuki had cleaned just before he came.

"And this was just to screw with us."

He dropped the bag on her desk and walked over to her window.

"He shouldn't have been able to get into the house." Nigel growled as he inspected the window. "The security system should have alerted us the moment anyone got close to your home."

Kuki watched as Nigel sat on the bench in front of the only window in her room. The large bay window with its flowing white sheers had always been her favorite part of the small bedroom. It had always reminded her of something out of a fairytale. Now, as she watched Nigel bending down to inspect it's white edges, a memory came to her and the allure of the picturesque window was gone.

"I was pretty out of it, but I know I felt a breeze a one point." She said, as she watched Nigel stare intently at one of the windows.

Nigel nodded."Yeah...the system sedated you, the moment it viewed you as a threat...I assume everything from the evacuation on is a blur to you. Unfortunately that means we can't re.."

Nigel cursed softly as he paused in his inspection. "He definitely came through this window."

He turned and pointed to the metal hinges on the right side of the window.

"He popped the hinges, I can see the scratches." He shook his head. "He never should've been able to get this close."

"I already have the security team on their way over here." Kuki heard from her doorway. She turned to see Mushi leaning on the door frame, her pink pajamas clearly thrown over her black jumpsuit.

"And I have a team that'll be watching the house 24/7, until we can get the bugs worked out of the security system."

Nigel nodded and stood. "Your parents will be back within the hour, you should probably try to get some sleep. I'm gonna take Kuki with me, as she seems to be his target."

Mushi pushed off the door frame and slowly walked into the room. "She's more than a target, Numbuh 1. I mean, he hacked our best security system and only left her a message. She was unconscious when he was here, if Brother was gonna delightfulize her, he would've done it already."

Nigel began to pace the room again. "I know."

Mushi stared at Kuki for a moment and then, horrified, turned to Nigel. "He's trying to convert her, to bring her over to their side willingly."

Nigel paused and glanced at Kuki. "That's one theory."

Disgusted Kuki rubbed her eyes and stood, knowing that if she said anything, she'd regret it. Without a word she strode past Mushi to the bathroom and closed the door.

She leaned against the cool door and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Wally was the bad guy in their eyes. He was the unredeemable 'Brother' trying to bring Kuki over to dark side.

She pushed off the door and gazed at the haggard girl in the mirror, her greasy hair clinging to her dirt smudged face. Her brown eyes began to well up with the tears she had been holding back all night long.

But that's not him. Wally would never willingly betray his team, or the Kids Next Door like this.

They were looking at the situation all wrong. Wally had been in her room when she was at her weakest and never hurt her.

She was stubborn and Wally, more than anyone, knew that. She couldn't believe that Wally would be trying to pit her against the Kids Next Door or her team. Even if he could, there was no point in doing so. She had no information, she wasn't the strongest or bravest fighter, she was average. It had always been her team that made her great. Wally knew that.

She closed her eyes, unable to look at the naive girl staring back at her in the mirror any longer. Wally has done so many terrible things, was she stupid for believing there to be some good left in him? She wiped the tears, that had begun to stream silently down her face, and began to strip off the filthy outfit.

She watched as the shirt he had bugged hit the floor, a fresh stream of tears dripping down her cheeks.

Feeling sick, she twisted the shower on and jumped in, sighing as the cool water hit her back. She scrubbed away every bit of grime from that stupid warehouse, the blood from every cut, every spot her tears had touched and her forehead where she could still feel the ghost of his kiss.

As she stepped out of the shower, she knew her place in all of this. She wrapped a towel around herself and started for the door, a renewed determination in her step.

She opened the door to see Nigel's back against the door frame. In his hand he held up a pile of clothes. She smiled as she took in the brightly colored ensemble, clearly picked out by her little sister.

"I don't believe it, Numbuh 1." She whispered as she grabbed the pile in his hand. "I don't believe that Wally is out to get me, or out to destroy the Kids Next Door. And maybe that makes me stupid and unfit to be working with this team, but I can't pretend like I think he's a criminal. Not when everything is telling me there's something more to this."

Always the gentleman, Nigel kept his back to her as he nodded. "I know. You're the heart of the team Numbuh 3. You can find the good in anything. If anyone can save him, it'll be you. But you need to remember that, in the eyes of the Kids Next Door, he is labeled the enemy now and I have to treat him as such."

Kuki nodded, though she knew he couldn't see her.

Nigel's voice cracked as he whispered. "Find proof that there's saving him, and I will back you a hundred percent. But until then...I have to do what is best for the Kids Next Door."

Kuki stared at Nigel's back as he walked to her room and finally understood. He blamed himself for Wally joining Father, just like he blamed himself for the demise of the underground base. Nigel wanted an explanation for all of this, just as much as she did.

Kuki slowly walked back into the bathroom and jumped as she looked at the clock. She got ready in record time, knowing that wherever her parents were, they'd be back soon and a boy could not be found in her room.

To her dismay, she stepped out of the bathroom to the sound of her parents talking to Nigel in the kitchen.

She raced down the steps, almost tripping over Bradley as she stumbled into the kitchen. She opened her mouth, ready to explain to her conservative parents how a random boy ended up in their house with no adult home, when she was pulled into a tearful hug.

"Your friend told us everything, honey." Taken aback, Kuki looked over her mother's shoulder at Nigel, who was holding a cup of hot cocoa and smirking. As Mrs. Sanban relinquished her grip on her eldest daughter and turned around, his face fell into a somber frown.

Mrs. Sanban dabbed her eyes and nodded to Mr. Sanban, who patted Kuki on the head. He was on the phone ordering large baskets of food to be sent to the hospital.

Kuki turned back to Nigel, who sipped his cocoa nonchalantly.

It was a habit of her parents to send large quantities of food to those going through a rough time. The worse the situation, the more food they sent, and her father was ordering a lot of food.

Kuki stared at Nigel in awe, wondering what exactly he had told her parents, when Mr. Sanban got off the phone.

He walked over to Nigel and shook his hand. "We can't thank you enough for getting our Kuki back here safely."

Nigel gave her father a charming smile and replied in his most sickeningly sweet voice. "It was the least I could do."

Kuki rolled her eyes, remembering Nigel's conversation with their English teacher. He could be pretty persuasive when he wanted to be.

"Well, we better get going before visiting hours are over." Nigel said solemnly as he set his cocoa down.

After a few dozen more hugs and manly handshakes, they were finally in Nigel's black sports car, on the way to the hospital.

Bewildered, Kuki asked. "What the hell did you say to them?"

"The truth."

Kuki looked at him shocked.

"Hoagie and Abby were in an accident last night after they dropped you off at my place. Unfortunately, it was a hit and run. Being a wonderful friend, I brought you home the moment we heard about the accident. You're obviously distraught and needed to see your friends as soon as possible." He smirked. He then handed her a bag with a warm bagel and cream cheese.

"When did you have time to get..."

"Don't question it."

Kuki shrugged, too hungry to care how he did it.

"Is Rachel coming?" She questioned through bites of her breakfast.

"Rachel is helping with the set up of the new base. I doubt we'll see much of her." He stated as he pulled onto a highway.

Kuki nodded and continued nibbling on her bagel. She looked over to Nigel, who was chugging an extra large coffee and staring intently on the road.

Every time he put his coffee down, he would tap nervously on the steering wheel. He seemed nervous about something.

"Is everything okay, Numbuh 1?"

He glanced quickly at her and back to the road. "Yeah..."

He hesitated a moment and then shook his head.

"Ace's father is at this hospital..." He grabbed his coffee and took a big gulp before continuing.

"He's in a coma."

Kuki nodded, understanding his apprehension immediately.

"I'm sorry."

The car was silent for a while as Nigel sipped his coffee and maneuvered through traffic.

After they pulled into the hospital lot and parked, Nigel turned to Kuki. "We have three teams stationed here, so the probability of anything happening is slim, but we should stay together just in case."

Kuki nodded and followed him to the hospital entrance.

"Remember all you know is that they were in an accident last night. Hoagie is awake. We've convinced him that your kidnapping was a terrible hallucination he had, due to medication he's on. He's perseverating on his destroyed car, so that helped. Abby has been sedated for now, she'll know it was no hallucination."

"How are you guys doing all of this?" Kuki asked as Nigel led the way through automatic doors and into the crisp white main floor.

Nigel didn't answer as they pushed through the crowded floor.

They passed a large desk, where a small elderly woman was complaining to someone in a _Volunteer_ shirt. Kuki smirked at how obviously uncomfortable the volunteer was with the woman. As the old lady grumbled, he pulled his beanie lower on his head and hunched closer to the computer.

"This stupid contraption has given me nothin' but trouble since..." The old woman perked up as she watched them pass and motioned Nigel to come closer.

"Here to see your uncle again, sweetie?"

"I try to visit as often as I can, Mrs. Langston." Nigel said falling back into the charming voice he used with her parents.

Mrs. Langston smiled and then turned to the man behind her, who as rapidly typing away on the computer.

"Charlie don't forget to change the screensaver. If I have to look at those damn bubbles all day again, I'm gonna take it out back and shoot it."

Charlie waved in acknowledgment and continued typing.

Kuki coughed to suppress her laugh, as Mrs. Langston turned back to them. The elderly woman placed her hand over her heart, grinning broadly .

"And I see you brought your little girlfriend today too."

Kuki gasped as Nigel suddenly clasped her hand in his own. "Yes, this is Kuki."

Mrs. Langston squealed like a school girl. Kuki watched as Charlie jumped and slammed his fist onto the keyboard.

"Oh! Don't you two make a handsome couple!"

Nigel smiled. "We sure do, Mrs. Langston."

Mrs. Langston turned to where Charlie, who clearly had enough of the old woman, was sitting with his fists clenched.

"Is that damned thing done yet, Charlie. I always play solitaire on my break and that's in 5 minutes. So you've got 5 minutes to be done."

Nigel grabbed Kuki around the waist and slowly pulled her backwards.

"Have a great day Mrs. Langston!"

Kuki watched Mrs. Langston wave, as Nigel quickly whipped her around a corner. He let her go as they walked to the elevator.

"Mrs. Langston is crazy. But she has access to everything. It's how were able to control so much in here."

Kuki giggled as the elevator doors opened and they stepped on. "Since when are you such a charmer with the adults."

Nigel pressed the button for the 5th floor. "Since I wasn't allowed to have any contact with my friends."

Kuki's laugh died in her throat.

A woman with a baby quickly ran onto the elevator, giving Kuki no chance to question Nigel further.

After a few stops on the way up, they finally reached the 5th floor, squished in the back of a very crowded elevator. As the doors opened Kuki was relived to finally get some fresh air.

The large group exited the elevator onto a bustling floor with a large reception desk. Kuki shuttered as the smell of rubbing alcohol and hospital food hit her nose.

Kuki heard a commotion to her left and jumped back as a group of nurses rushed passed them with a gurney. Trying to give them a wide berth, Kuki suddenly found herself pushed back into the open elevator.

She gasped as she tripped and hit the floor. She stood up in time to see the elevator doors closing in her face.

Annoyed, Kuki hit the button for the 5th floor, but the stupid machine was already on a path to the lower levels.

Nigel was going to kill her.

She paced the elevator, watching as the numbers slowly counted down.

4

3

2

1

B

The elevator made a small beep as it stopped at level B.

"No, this can't be right." Kuki mumbled to herself as the doors slowly began to open.

Kuki cringed as the smell of formaldehyde and musty basement air hit her nose. Kuki saw a long white hallway and large sign that read "Morgue" with an arrow pointing left.

She looked around, waiting for someone to enter the elevator. She could feel herself tensing up, the memory of the warehouse still fresh in her mind.

She pressed the button to close the door and then the button labeled 5, ready to be out of the creepy basement.

Kuki waited. The elevator didn't budge.

She growled and slammed the button to close the door, still nothing. She sighed and pulled her phone out, knowing Nigel must be having a fit.

No signal.

"Great, just great." She murmured as she shoved the useless phone back into her pocket.

Desperate, she hit each button in the elevator, hoping to get it to move.

Still nothing.

She knew she was being stupid. This was a public building, there had to be stairs leading up. She would just take them back to the main level.

She looked out the elevator door, down the pristine hallway.

Knowing she couldn't stay in this stupid elevator all day, she took a deep breath and stepped into the hall. She looked around, ready for someone to jump out at her, but there was nothing.

Kuki walked for a while down the confusing corridor, opposite the morgue. She soon turned a corner and smiled as the sight of a staircase came into view.

Almost there.

The entire hallway suddenly went dark. Kuki quickly pulled her phone out and flipped the flashlight on. She twisted the phone around, searching for an oncoming attack.

Kuki went cold as a chorus of voices hit her ear.

"We're coming for you, Kuki Sanban."

Kuki sprinted for the staircase, but stopped dead in her tracks as she watched three figures in black descending the stairs. She could hear their creepy laughter all around her as the figures started towards her.

She turned her flashlight off, knowing it was a dead giveaway of her location. Using the walls to guide her, she backtracked.

As she turned the corner she saw a light coming from the elevator and heard it make a small beep.

Was it working again? She sprinted towards the light, praying to find it working again.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw a familiar beanie and volunteer shirt, messing with the control panel of the elevator.

"Charlie!" She shouted. "Hold that elevator!"

Thankfully, she saw Charlie's head pop up and watched him hold his arm out, stopping the elevator doors from closing.

Kuki sprinted into the elevator, panting from fear and exhaustion. She let out a small sigh of relief as the doors closed on the sound of footfalls and yelling.

Heart pounding in her chest, she twisted and slowly slid down the back wall of the elevator until she was seated on the ground.

"Thank you so much."

She let out a small giggle as she realized how close she had come to another encounter with the Delightfuls. If they were here, she needed to let Nigel know. She pulled her phone out, hoping she'd finally have some reception, and gasped as she felt the elevator come to jerky halt, the lights flickering ominously .

"What's wrong with the elevator." She said, still out of breath from her recent encounter.

She looked at Charlie as he messed with the controls of the elevator and noticed something silver sticking out of one of his black combat boots.

Kuki gasped as Charlie twisted around to face her, shedding the black beanie to reveal a bright blonde mane. His piercing emerald gaze never wavering, as he grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the floor.

He leaned in, still gripping her hand. Kuki instinctively stepped backwards and felt her back hit the wall. He smirked as his arm casually rested against the wall near her head, effectively trapping her.

"Nothing's wrong with the elevator, Kuki...how did you like the flowers?"


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm back... :)  
**

 **My sincerest apologies for the mini hiatus, things got a bit hectic (as they tend to do in life) and I just didn't have the time to devote to my favorite little project. Thank you to all of you still keeping up with my story and to those of you who took the time to review. Seriously, every one of you makes my day! You'll be happy to know that the next update will be much sooner. I promise!**

 **Note: Everything written is for fun and is the product of an overactive imagination. I still own nothing.**

Chapter 11

 _"Nothing's wrong with the elevator, Kuki...how did you like the flowers?"_

All her determination melted away as she gazed into his cold emerald eyes. She was trapped, at the mercy of the person she was supposed to be saving.

He wasn't here about the flowers, they both knew that.

She ripped her eyes from his gaze and searched his face for any sign of the Wally she grew up with. His features were set in a cold mask as she scanned his face. Her eyes roamed down to the black shirt he wore with 'Volunteer' in bold yellow across his chest and back. The shirt was tighter than his attire last night, giving her a clear view of his thin, yet muscular physique.

A small smile graced her lips, as the scent of a familiar cologne washed over her. Finally something she recognized.

Expensive colognes were never Wally's thing. That is, until his grandmother sent a large bottle of some fancy fragrance Wally couldn't pronounce for his eleventh birthday. This prompted his mother to make him wear it on special occasions. He would make quite the fuss every time it was forcibly sprayed upon him, that is, until Kuki blushingly admitted how much she liked it.

From then on, every time he saw Kuki became a special occasion.

The familiar aroma sent a jolt of bravery coursing through her.

Very slowly, she reached up with her free hand. She stopped inches from his face, ready for him to stop her or flinch away. He did neither.

With a shaking hand she closed the gap, touching the smooth face of her former best friend.

Her heart skipped a beat as, for a moment, his icy mask seemed to crack. He closed his eyes and she could have sworn she felt him shiver.

"What's happened to you Wally?" She whispered so low, she wasn't even sure he could hear her.

His eyes shot open and the moment was gone. His mask firmly back in place, he pushed off of the wall with a familiar sleek phone now gripped in his palm.

Kuki stared bewildered at her phone, now being twirled between the fingers of her former teammate. She must have dropped it in all the excitement of reaching of the elevator.

"Tell me you're not actually dating Nigel Uno." He stated nonchalantly, as he unlocked and scrolled through her phone.

Kuki felt her cheeks turn red. "Tell me you didn't trap me in a hospital elevator, just to ask me about my love life."

He glanced up and gave her a look of feigned innocence. "No, just curious."

She watched him pull what looked to be a portable charger from his pocket and plug it into her phone. The screen lit up a violent blue and then went black.

She'd never seen a charger do that to a phone.

"Don't let the old hag give you any ideas, you two would not make a _handsome_ couple."

Wally calmly stowed the phone, still attached to the portable device, into his pocket.

Kuki's eyes went wide. "What'd you jus.."

Wally leaned in and held a finger to her lips.

Kuki rolled her eyes as Wally tapped his black earpiece. She despised that earphone and whoever he spoke to on it.

Wally's eyes looked over her face as he spoke. His clipped tone telling her that he wasn't pleased with the speaker.

"Yes."

"They should've known better."

"I couldn't care less."

"Of course it's done."

He removed his finger from the earpiece and looked at his watch.

"We'll have to make this quick, beautiful, the old woman held me up and I hate to be late."

"Since when?" Kuki questioned, remembering the less than punctual Wally of her childhood. It had always been an unspoken team rule that Numbuh 4 was given an earlier time estimation than everyone else. Even then, Numbuh 4 always made it by the skin of his teeth.

Wally smirked at her and then turned back to the elevator control panel.

This gave Kuki a chance to take in her surroundings. Her Kids Next Door training from long ago seemed to kick into high gear as her eyes carefully searched the elevator for an escape.

As much as Kuki wanted to help Wally, she knew she had to get out of here and warn Nigel. Abby and Hoagie would need their help, as there was no way they would be able to protect themselves against an attack in their current state. Since she wasn't officially an operative yet, Nigel would have to notify the Kids Next Door.

The fact that Wally and the Delightfuls were able to get into the hospital with such a heavy Kids Next Door operative presence wasn't good. Kuki shivered knowing that a breach this bad meant the spy in the Kids Next Door had a high level of clearance.

Kuki's eyes settled on her one option of escape, the hatch at the top of the elevator. It was pretty high, but there was a support bar attached to one of the dingy, metal elevator walls, she could use it to hoist herself up.

Kuki jumped as Wally began to chuckle and tossed a tool to the ground, pulling a pair of pliers out of his back pocket.

"Go ahead and try it, beautiful, it's been a pretty boring day...I could use some excitement." He mused.

Kuki's eyes shot to where Wally was working and saw him watching her in the reflection of the metal wall. Kuki glared at Wally's distorted image and internally chastised herself for being so obvious.

Wally winked at her and continued with his work.

"What's going on Wally?" Kuki bit out, more aggressively than she meant. Kuki closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. The idea of something happening to Abby and Hoagie was putting her on edge, she needed to control herself. She wasn't going to be able to help them or Wally by verbally attacking him.

She looked back to Wally and saw him glance up quickly, then turn back to the controls. For a moment Kuki wasn't sure he had heard her. She watched him expertly clip wires and place a silver chip into the control panel. Finally, Kuki watched his reflection grin and he turned to her.

"You're coming with me."

"I can't do that, Wally." She answered quickly. She'd wasted enough time already.

Wally ignored her and turned pack to the panel, continuing his work. She heard him curse under his breath as he quickly pulled his earpiece out. She could hear inaudible shouts coming from the small earphone as he clipped it to the neck of his shirt.

Kuki sighed and tried once again to reason with him. "I really do wanna talk with you Wally. But you have to understand, I can't just..."

"No, you don't understand, Numbuh 3." Wally chuckled, as he pushed the control panel into place and turned to face Kuki.

"You don't have a choice."

Kuki faltered a moment and whispered. "No...I...What did you do?"

He grinned. "You're catching on."

He wiped his hands on his pants and made his way over to Kuki. He held her gaze as he leaned against the elevator wall next to her. As he tapped the front of his watch, Kuki watched the screen shift from the time, to a view of a hospital room.

Kuki felt her heart stop as she realized what she was seeing. In the bed was an unconscious Abby, her hand being gently rubbed by her mother. She watched Mrs. Lincoln look to the other side of the bed and begin speaking to a hospital gown clad Hoagie and his younger brother, Tommy. Tommy nodded politely as Mrs. Lincoln rambled on, but Hoagie didn't seem to be hearing much of anything. He stared at Abby, looking as if he were going to be sick. Kuki knew Hoagie too well, he was blaming himself for Abby's current condition.

"A very touching scene."

Kuki grimaced at the indifference of Wally's tone. Those were his friends too.

The walls of the tiny elevator seemed to begin to close in on her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, reminding herself to look for the good. It's still in him, it has to be.

"Tell me you didn't hurt them, Wally." Kuki gently pleaded as she looked into his face. His mask stayed in place while he avoided her stare and focused on his watch screen.

"Calm down, beautiful, your friends are fine. And they'll stay that way as long as you cooperate."

Kuki felt her body tense up as she gazed at him. Was he using their friends as a threat?

Wally looked up and finally met her gaze. A crease formed between his eyebrows and he seemed to hesitate a moment.

"And if I don't?" Kuki whispered.

Wally swiped right on his watches screen, where a series of small apps appeared, taking the place of the hospital scene. Wally clicked one of the apps and a monitor appeared on the display along with a small red button at the bottom. He pointed to the button and leaned down to her.

"Then I press this, which will release a drug into sleeping beauty's IV, delightfuling her before she even wakes up."

Shocked at his threat, Kuki stared into Wally's face, his smirk quickly turning her astonishment into rage.

How could he?

She rubbed her bridge of her nose in an attempt to calm herself. Find the good in him.

She shook her head unable to control her anger, and swung her hand out to slap that smug look off of his beautiful face. She felt him grab her wrist before her hand could make a connection with his face. Completely overcome with fury, her other hand balled into a fist and aimed right for his stomach. He caught her fist with ease and within seconds Kuki felt her back hit the wall and her arms pinned above her head.

Wally opened his mouth to speak, but Kuki kicked her leg out and caught him right between the legs. He grimaced and pinned her against the wall with his full body weight.

He brought his face down to hers and swallowed a few times, clearly thrown off by her kick. He stared at her for a moment, his eyes almost pleading with her.

"Are you done?" He asked, harsher than Kuki expected.

"You hurt her and I'll..." Kuki growled. Wally leaned down, his lips mere inches from her ear. His warm breath against her skin stopped her in her rant.

"In case you haven't noticed, Numbuh 3, I currently have the upper hand in this situation. So I'd be careful with what comes out of that pretty mouth if I were you."

He pulled away, glancing down at the microphone clipped to his shirt and then back to her eyes.

Kuki felt her lips part in awe as the meaning behind this tiny action hit her.

He was being monitored.

She nodded slowly, indicating that she understood.

Wally relaxed and slowly leaned back, careful to keep her arms pinned securely to the wall.

"So like I was saying, you're coming with me." His said slowly, his voice more dangerous this time.

Kuki stared at his face, trying to determine if this was all a show for the listener on his earpiece. She nodded and felt his warm breath against her face. Kuki blushed as she suddenly she realized how close they were.

Wally must have realized the same thing because he let go of her wrists as if suddenly burned and pushed off the wall. He walked back to the control panel, pulled a few screws from his pocket and began to secure it to the wall.

Kuki steadied herself against the cool metal wall and took a deep breath. Her mind was racing. In her mind's eye, she replayed Wally's simple glance at the damned earpiece. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered if she was over thinking the small action.

She ran her hand nervously through her raven hair and sighed, coming to terms with the fact that wherever Wally was going, she was now going too. She didn't have much of a choice, she couldn't risk anything happening to Abby.

When she looked back at Wally he was staring at her, twirling his ridiculous knife and leaning against the elevator door.

"What do you want with me?" Kuki blurted out.

Wally just stared at her as he effortlessly twirled the blade between his fingers.

"If I'm going with you, I think I deserve an answer." Kuki continued. "The Delightfuls were already coming for me, if you hadn't intervened they would've had me. So why'd you show up Numbuh 4? You both work for the same person...seems a little excessive to have so many agents come for an operative who's been outta commission for four years."

He continued to stare.

"Did they even know you were coming?" She didn't wait for his answer. "Probably not. Honestly...this sounds like bad management on Father's end. Either he's not communicating to his agents properly or he's allowed an operative to get cocky enough to intervene on someone else's mission."

Kuki glared at the earpiece attached to Wally's shirt, hating it and everything it represented.

He smirked and detached the earpiece, putting it up to his lips. "Hear that? You better get your shit together, old man."

Wally looked at Kuki as if he were seeing her in a new light and chuckled as he placed the earpiece back into his ear.

He pressed it into his ear, clearly listening to something. Whatever was said, he didn't acknowledge it.

He merely smirked and seemed to choose his words carefully as he answered her. "The... _children_ and I don't always...see eye to eye."

He stared at the blade twisting through his fingers and then held her gaze. "I only intervene when precious cargo is involved."

He smirked and began to toss the knife between his two hands.

"Now...for this to work I'm gonna need you to put on a bit of a show." He stated calmly, as if he wasn't whipping a weapon around in a public elevator.

"What kind of a show?" Kuki sighed, knowing his cryptic answers were the best she was going to get out of him for now.

"Nothing that'll cause a scene, anything too much will draw attention...we need to be quick and quiet."

Kuki watched as Wally balanced the tip of the blade on his finger.

"It's pretty simple. You saw some blood and you're feeling a bit faint. Can you handle that?"

Kuki nodded as she watched him flip the blade into the air, making it disappear down into his sleeve before she had the chance to blink.

He lazily hit something on his watch and the elevator shivered to life once again, jolting as it began its journey up.

He smirked at her as he pulled the beanie out of his pocket, throwing it over his messy blonde hair. The action caused his hair to flatten against his forehead and stick out at weird angles.

Wally positioned himself next to Kuki as the elevator stopped at the first floor. The scent of his cologne once again filled her senses. She bit back tears as she remembered what that smell used to mean to her.

A small beep signaled they had reached their destination, pulling her from old memories of a small golden haired boy in an orange sweatshirt. She watched the metal doors slowly open, revealing the bustling lobby.

"The show starts now, beautiful." He whispered.

Kuki jumped, having not realized he had bent so close to her ear. She turned and met his gaze for a moment. Her breath caught in her chest as the hair covering his eyes reminded her of his much younger counterpart.

"Lead the way, _Brother_." Kuki whispered.


	12. Chapter 12

**So sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. I had most of it done when I posted chapter 11, but after several revisions I decided it was best to scrap what I had and start over. That was the first time I had to do that with a completed chapter in this story, so it was a bit disheartening. A _huge_ thank you to my lovely reviewers, your words were very encouraging :)  
**

 **Note: I still own nothing**

Chapter 12

 _"Lead the way, Brother." Kuki whispered_.

Kuki could have sworn she felt him flinch as he grabbed her around the waist and led her out of the elevator.

Knowing Abby's safety was at stake, Kuki did her best to lean on him and look very pale.

She glanced around for Kids Next Door operatives or, at the very least, a group of angry people waiting for the stopped elevator, but strangely no one seemed to have even noticed. The other elevators in the lobby were clearly working fine, so little attention was paid to one stuck between the basement and ground level.

She felt sick as Wally dragged her through the crowded lobby, which must have helped with their show as several people made a point to skirt around them.

Wally led her towards a large familiar desk, where Mrs. Langston was loudly complaining to a young boy holding a bouquet of flowers.

The child stared wide eyed at the elderly woman and dropped the brightly colored roses he was holding as she stood up from her computer.

He scrambled to pick them up as Mrs. Langston pushed around a pile of lottery tickets and butterscotch wrappers, her game of Solitaire forgotten.

"Can't find a damned thing on this desk...what's your name again?" Mrs. Langston grumbled as she threw a large pile of important looking papers into the trash.

"Uhh..." The boy stuttered as he stood with his flowers and then promptly stumbled backwards as the pair approached. He eyed Kuki warily, looking desperate to distance himself from the girl who was going to vomit.

Mrs. Langston looked up, clearly losing her patience, and spotted Kuki.

"Oh God, you look like hell, honey." The old woman pointed out, as she began to grope around a pocket in her oversized sweater.

After a moment of digging, she pulled out a yellow swipe card and shoved it into Wally's hand.

"Get her outta here Charlie, I'm not cleaning up puke today." Mrs. Langston then turned a concerned gaze to Kuki.

"You really shouldn't come to hospitals if you don't have the stomach for it, honey."

Kuki suppressed a sudden urge to sabotage the elderly woman's game of Solitaire and managed a weak nod in acknowledgment.

She could hear Wally chuckling to himself as he pulled her away from the desk.

The small boy waited for them to get a good distance away, before timidly walking back up to the desk.

To Kuki's surprise, Wally led her away from the crowded lobby and to a door behind Mrs. Langston's desk.

He waved the yellow card in front of a small gray box on the wall and a clicking could be heard from a mechanism in the door. He quickly grabbed the door and pulled it open for the two of them.

The sound of a crack caught Kuki's attention and she turned to see Wally breaking the key card in two. He casually tossed it on the old woman's cluttered desk, smirked at the small boy, who was currently receiving a lecture about staying with his parents in a crowded public place, and ushered Kuki over the threshold.

As the door quietly closed behind them, Kuki caught a glimpse of the boy running after them, his bouquet of roses forgotten on the floor behind him. The door shut in his small face as Wally laced his fingers through Kuki's and began to pull her through the hall.

It was Kuki's turn to smirk. He was definitely a Kids Next Door operative, though obviously on the newer side, but at least now someone could warn Nigel and the rest of the Kids Next Door.

Kuki's thoughts were interrupted as a large woman in a white coat bumped into her. She looked around and realized they were clearly in a section of the hospital meant for staff only.

Several people in scrubs rushed around them, some shoving food into their mouths, others running into a locker room. A man in blue scrubs walked out of a brightly lit office with a sandwich in his hand and smiled at Wally.

"Hey Charlie."

Wally waved in acknowledgment and they continued nonchalantly down the bustling hall.

Not one person questioned them being in a restricted section of the hospital. Kuki was shocked to see several other staff members greet Wally as they made their way down the corridor. It would seem that 'Charlie' was a regular volunteer at the hospital.

Kuki wasn't sure she even wanted to know the reason Father had Wally stationed at a hospital. She shuttered, knowing that Hoagie and Abby had spent the night here.

How had the Kids Next Door missed this? Had they truly fallen so far to have overlooked something this huge? Kuki shivered to think of what else Father has been getting away with, with Brother at the helm of his plans.

They came to an intersection in the corridor and Wally pulled her down a quieter, older looking hallway. It was shorter and more dimly lit than the previous hallway, with most of its light coming from an old Coke machine. The hallway curved and Wally stopped in front of a large service elevator.

"I think I've had enough elevator rides for one day, can't we just use the stairs?" Kuki mumbled as she took in the rusted doors of the archaic contraption.

Wally pressed a faded call button and the metal gears of the ancient machine could be heard sputtering to life.

He squeezed her hand and looked at his watch. "Don't like elevators, beautiful?"

Kuki looked down at her hand gripped in his and back up to his face.

"Why are you doing this, Numbuh 4? I'm your friend...we're your friends..."

He glanced around the hallway impatiently, mask still firmly in place.

"You can still come back to us. It's not too late, we can help you..."

Kuki gasped as Wally gripped her hand and pulled her body up against his. He grabbed her face gently and put his lips to her ear.

"There is no helping me, beautiful. The sooner you realize that, the better off you are."

He pulled away slowly, his emerald orbs holding her gaze for a moment, and then turned back to the corroded doors as if nothing had happened.

A loud thud and grinding of gears indicated that the service elevator had stopped at their floor. The rusted doors shook as they shifted to the side and a jagged gate opened, allowing entrance into the dimly lit elevator.

Wally pulled her onto the elevator, which groaned as they each stepped on its dusty floor.

Kuki, still in shock at his previous reaction, stared at her former teammate as he pressed a button and pulled her into the middle of the elevator.

She couldn't make any sense of his behavior. Is that why he stayed working for Father? Did Wally actually believe himself to be beyond help?

The gate closed, effectively trapping them in and the rusted doors followed suit. The service elevator creaked as it started its journey down.

Kuki shivered as she realized there were no actual walls to the elevator, just the gate that separated them from the elevator shaft. It made her feel a bit dizzy watching the filthy cement walls of the elevator shaft pass, so she looked to the floor to steady herself.

The flickering light in the elevator did nothing to help her feeling of wooziness. Wally squeezed her hand, causing Kuki to look up. She found herself caught in his gaze, which steadied her as the rickety elevator made its descent. Wally was the first to tear his eyes away, breaking the spell. He glanced around the elevator and then checked his watch, glaring as soon as his eyes fell upon it.

Despite her predicament, she was thankful when she felt the creaking elevator come to a halt.

The steel doors slowly shuttered open, followed by the rusted gate, to reveal a small garage filled with boxes.

"Where are we?" Kuki asked, as Wally hastily pulled her out of the elevator and began walking through the garage.

"The loading dock." He answered quickly, rushing Kuki through the filthy garage.

He suddenly stopped, causing Kuki to slam into his back. She watched him put his finger to his ear and curse to himself.

Before Kuki could question him, he twisted her so she was facing him. Surprised, Kuki stumbled, but he quickly steadied her and began backing her up into a small, dark room.

"You have exactly 23 seconds to change into this shirt or I'm coming in and doing it for you." He smoothly ordered.

He flipped a light switch on, illuminating a dingy, blue bathroom with a dusty wooden shelf over the toilet. He reached over her head to the shelf and pulled down a small, black volunteer shirt to match his own. He shoved it into her arms and made to exit the bathroom.

Kuki opened her mouth to protest, but Wally had already grabbed the door and begun counting down as he closed it.

"22, 21, 20..."

Kuki growled and began to pull her brightly colored shirt over her head, wanting nothing more than to punch him.

"13, 12, 11.."

She quickly pulled the new shirt over her head, cursing Wally as she brushed off the dust from the filthy shelf.

True to his word, Wally pushed the door open the second he finished counting. Without a sound, he grabbed the old shirt out of her hands and tossed it onto the shelf above the toilet.

Kuki sighed and watched as he locked the door, pulling it shut as they both exited the bathroom.

"Do we really need matching shirts?" She questioned, as he pulled her to a large metal garage door.

He smirked. "Next time your boyfriend bugs you, I'll make sure to come with a better selection, princess."

Kuki faltered for a moment, realizing what he had done. She had been out of the Kids Next Door too long, she wasn't thinking like an operative. Nigel must have wired her shirt before handing the clothes off to her this morning. Kuki silently cursed herself for not having noticed. How would she ever be of any use to the Kids Next Door if she kept missing little things like that?

Kuki watched as Wally unlocked the door and lifted it, revealing a large parking lot meant for tractor trailers.

He jumped off of the loading dock and turned as if to help her down. Kuki rolled her eyes and hopped off of the platform and onto the cement asphalt below.

Wally looked mildly impressed and grabbed her arm, pulling her over to a black motorcycle parked close to the edge of the building.

Kuki couldn't help but smile as she looked at it. It looked exactly like the Harley's Wally used to obsess over as a kid. He used to plaster pictures of them all over his walls and tell Kuki how he was going to be rich someday and get himself a 'bad-ass bike.'

Kuki's smile faded as quickly as it came. It was a bad-ass bike alright, but where did he get the money for it? His family had always been strapped for cash, so there was no way he got it from them.

"Father must be paying you pretty well." She said, as he pressed a button on the bike's handle. Behind them, the door of the loading dock rolled closed.

Wally shrugged and tossed a black leather jacket over to her. She pulled the smooth jacket on, noticing it's orange interior. The jacket was much too big for her and smelled of his cologne. After a few seconds of struggling with the long sleeves, she was finally able to manage the zipper.

The moment she was done with the oversized jacket, she looked up to see a full face helmet coming down on her head. Wally was gentle, however, he wasted no time in securing it to her head.

As he adjusted it, Kuki squinted trying to see through the darkly tinted and blurry visor.

"You won't be able to see well, so just follow my lead." Kuki heard his muffled voice say, through the large helmet.

She felt him grab her arm and pull her over to the bike. He helped her on the back and she could feel him jump on in front of her.

Kuki had always wanted to ride on a motorcycle, but the idea of riding almost blind made her feel woozier than the rickety elevator. She closed her eyes, sick of looking through the blurry visor and felt Wally start up the bike. She groped around for the handholds, hating the lack of vision of her helmet.

Kuki gasped as she felt the bike lurch forward and reached for Wally, clinging to him as the bike accelerated.

She could feel the wind whipping at her long hair and the sensation of the bike leaning every so often. The bike would occasionally slow down and come to a stop, for what Kuki could only assume was a red light. She couldn't hear anything over the roar of the engine and found it quite disorienting being unable to rely on two key senses.

After a while on the bike, she began to feel more at ease and let her tense body finally relax.

She could feel her face flush as she slowly became aware of where her fingers were.

In her panic during the start of their journey, she had grabbed a hold of Wally around the stomach, digging her nails into his abs. Wally had given her his jacket, therefore, had little protecting him from the grip of her nails. She hastily adjusted her hands, hoping she hadn't hurt him too badly.

After a moment of worrying about the pain she had caused him, she realized that she had moved both hands so her fingers were now splayed across his abs. Kuki was suddenly very thankful for the large helmet covering her face, as she was sure her face was now crimson with embarrassment.

She moved her hands up, though she knew there was no place for her to put her hands that wasn't awkward. She settled for gripping his rib cage and hoped he didn't think she was trying to grope him.

The wind whipping through her hair turned colder and the smell of car fumes faded, indicating that they were probably moving away from the city. The smell of crisp leaves and pine flooded her nostrils as the bike accelerated.

It was so hard to estimate time atop the bike. Judging by the pain in her back and legs, they had to have been driving for at least an hour.

Kuki felt the motorcycle begin to slow down and cringed as the sound of its engine echoed all around her. The bike coasted to a stop and after a few moments, Wally turned off the engine. After the loud noise of their journey, the eerie silence unnerved her.

She hastily pulled the helmet off of her head and decided almost immediately that she liked things better when she couldn't see.

Wally had brought them to an abandoned warehouse, full of rusted machines and dilapidated conveyor belts. Most of the room was dark, however a few smashed windows provided some light, which illuminated the filth covered floors.

Wally as already off of the bike, he tossed his helmet onto a dusty workbench and made his way over to a metal pillar in the corner. The pillar was extremely out of place in the run down building. Its metal shone too brightly as the light from a broken window fell upon it.

Kuki hopped off of the bike, as quickly as her aching body would let her, and followed Wally, dust swirling around her feet as she went.

Wally stepped in front of the pillar and placed his hand on it. After a few seconds, a small screen appeared where his hand was.

"Retinal scan initiated." Stated a robotic male voice.

Wally leaned down to the screen, positioning himself to allow for his left eye to be scanned. Kuki heard a small beep and then the robotic voice echoed throughout the whole room.

"Welcome back, Brother."

Wally rolled his eyes and pulled his earpiece out of his ear, setting it on a shelf next to the pillar. He then stripped off his shirt, tossing it over to Kuki.

Thrown off by the sudden appearance of his muscular chest and abs, Kuki missed the shirt. It fell to the ground in front of her feet.

She blushed and quickly grabbed the shirt. She dusted it off and to her relief, saw that Wally hadn't even noticed. He was too busy carefully pulling a taped wire off of his perfectly sculpted chest. He followed the wire down his abs and then pulled a small, thin black box from the top of his pants line.

He tossed the box, wire still attached, on to the shelf with the earpiece and turned to face Kuki. He motioned for her to give him his shirt, which she threw back at him immediately.

He stretched and pulled the volunteer shirt over his head, giving Kuki a clear view of the little red marks marring his six-pack. Her heart dropped. How long did she have her nails dug into him?

Wally smirked cockily at her, misinterpreting her staring.

"I'm sorry." Kuki whispered. "I didn't mean to...I..."

Wally looked at her confused as she motioned to his stomach. His eyes fell upon his now covered stomach and then looked back to Kuki, realization dawning on him.

"Considering that I've kidnapped you, threatened your best friend, upended your entire life and sent the Kids Next Door into a panic, I think I should be happy this is the worst you've done to me." He muttered darkly as he walked up to her.

Kuki looked around the decrepit warehouse and then met Wally's gaze.

"I don't want to hurt you Wally." She whispered.

He hesitated, his mask faltering for a moment. Kuki caught a glimpse of an exhausted teenager, and could have sworn she saw a look of pain flash across his features. He quickly closed his eyes, took a deep breath and ran a hand through his blond hair. When his eyes met hers again, the cold mask was back in place.

"You need to worry less about hurting me...and more about what we're going to do with you, beautiful."

Kuki glared at him, hating that it had to be this way. "I'm ready for you, Brother."

Wally huffed and grabbed her hand, leading her through the room. Glass from the windows littered the floor, making awful crunching noises as they walked. Kuki was glad she had chosen to wear her sneakers today, as she was sure her usual flats would have been easily pierced by the shards.

The dust they kicked up as they walked caused Kuki's eyes to water. She tried not to think about where Wally was taking her.

She was Numbuh 3 of Sector V and she could handle this.

He led her out of the room and into narrow hallway. The corridor was dimly lit, allowing her to see the dirty floors and cracked walls. As they walked, Kuki noticed several rooms with the doors off of the hinges, some even looked to have been kicked in.

Wally stopped at a room labeled A18 and pushed the door open.

Kuki took a deep breath, she could handle whatever they threw at her. She could do this. In the back of her mind she wondered how many times she'd have to think it, to actually believe it.

They walked into a dark, empty room with a high ceiling. The only light came from the dimly lit hallway they had just left, which allowed her see a set of stairs off to her right, leading up to a catwalk above her head. The room was drafty and smelled oddly of sulfur.

Confused, she turned to Wally, who grabbed her in a tight bear hug. His lips quickly found her ear and began to whisper rapidly.

"When I let go of you, you will tie your hair up into a bun on the top of your head. Make sure you stand completely still and show no strong emotions...emotions are signs of weakness, weakness is _never_ tolerated. Speak only when questioned and _do not_ take the jacket off."

He leaned up slowly, kissing her temple gently before pulling away and positioning himself a few feet behind her. His bored mask in place, Kuki watched as he pulled the blade from his boot and began to toss it lazily into the air.

Puzzled, Kuki pulled the hair tie off of her wrist and wrapped her long raven hair into a messy bun on the top of her head. A few strands fell into her face, but considering she had put it up without the aid of a mirror, it would have to do.

Kuki stood awkwardly with Wally in the dim room for what seemed like hours. Suddenly, the door behind them slammed, dousing the room in darkness.

Kuki wished she could see, as a small clicking noise below her feet caught her attention. She tried to make out something in the inky blackness of the room and gasped as a ring of blazing fire erupted around them.

She stumbled back, but quickly steadied herself. She was Numbuh 3, she could do this, she repeated in her mind. She froze as a bone chilling laughter echoed throughout the burning room.

Wally had brought her to Father.


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you to those of you who reviewed and are still following my little story. Sorry for the delay in updating, I've been going through a bit of a rough time. But I'm making a point of focusing on the positives, like how much I enjoy writing this story.**

 **Note: I own nothing :)**

Chapter 13

 _Wally had brought her to Father._

The fire surrounding the teenagers rose to the rusted catwalk above their heads. The flames crackled maliciously as they licked the metal railings of the bridge.

The suffocating heat from the inferno washed over Kuki, as Father's chilling laughter finally died down.

Kuki choked as the soot and smoke swirling through the air hit her lungs. She took slow breaths, coughing up dust and blinking away the tears caused by the debris in the air.

She jumped as the sudden sound of rushing fire and air erupted behind her. She twisted around, praying it was a simple malfunction of Father's ridiculous pyrotechnics.

No, this was much worse.

All around her, spurts of fire were erupting at random intervals from the floor. The sudden bursts from hell rose as high as her head, and then disappeared, leaving nothing but ashes in their wake. Burning embers flew menacingly through the air. She jumped as she felt a burning sensation on her thigh and looked down to see a small singe in her favorite pair of jeans.

Father had clearly taken is role as Kids Next Door villain to a whole new level since her decommissioning. He had never been quite sane, but somewhere along the line he had driven right over the edge and was hell bent on taking Wally with him.

Kuki's heart almost beat out of her chest as she watched the fire dance around her. The fully engulfed room and blow torch floor truly made it seem as if she had stepped into the pits of hell.

Kuki tore her gaze from the inferno only to lock eyes with the devil's advocate himself.

All the heat had caused him to brush his hair back from his forehead, giving Kuki a clear view of those beautiful green orbs. Though his mask stayed firmly in place, the intensity of his gaze gave Kuki chills.

There was a clear message in those eyes, behave. He almost seemed to plead with her.

His eyes suddenly left her and nonchalantly glanced around the room, following the noises of the flame throwing floor.

"Numbuh 3..." Father's voice boomed around them.

Kuki sighed and turned back, now glaring at the catwalk. She was sure he was up there, watching them from afar. Father hated to get his hands dirty, hence his awful children.

"Out of all the members of Sector V, Brother, you bring me the dumb one?" The fire surrounding the room shot higher into the air as Father raged. "I expected better of you! Any of the others would have been more useful than _her_."

Kuki's fists clenched and she heard Wally chuckle behind her.

"You used to think your children were pretty useful...things change, old man."

She shivered at the detached sound of Wally's voice. He sounded cold, uncaring and...deadly.

"You forget yourself Brother. It seemed as if my children were doing fine, until they were interrupted." Father replied, clearly irritated with Wally's insolence.

"Your children have botched every mission so far. You can't afford for them to screw up with Sector V." Wally growled as he inched up next to Kuki, absentmindedly twirling his ridiculous blade between his fingers.

She didn't care how many tricks he could do with it, she hated that stupid knife. She watched the light of the flames reflect off of its smooth edges, as he artfully spun it through his fingers and dropped it to the ground.

Shocked Kuki turned in time to see him lunge towards her. She tensed up for a fight on instinct and gasped as she suddenly felt Wally's arms around her waist. In one swift movement he pulled her body backwards, causing Kuki to lose her balance and lean into him.

The deafening roar of a flame thrower assaulted their ears as fire shot out from the floor. Kuki threw her arms up in front of her face and watched as the flames licked the arms of Wally's jacket. She gasped and pulled herself backwards, leaning further into Wally. She quickly inspected the arms of his jacket, only to find the material of the jacket in perfect condition. She suddenly realized why Wally insisted she wear it, it was fireproof.

Kuki cringed as she realized she was now being held up by Wally. She steadied herself as much as she could with his arms around her, thankful she could blame her blushed cheeks on the heat from the blaze.

The fire died down before her, leaving an ebony pile of ash and soot at her feet. Wally instantly pulled away from her, bored expression plastered on his face. He bent to pick up his knife, now covered in ashes on the ground, and continued twirling it as if nothing happened.

"I suggest you explain yourself Brother, my patience is wearing thin." Father insisted as the fire around them once again soared higher into the air.

Kuki could make out a dark figure in the corner of the catwalk as the raging fire lit up the room.

Wally seemed in no hurry to answer, his focus was now trained on his knife, which he had begun to toss.

"The delightfulization process is flawed, your children are living proof of that." Wally casually stated, as the fire around them dropped a few inches.

"They follow orders but they don't think for themselves. That's why we're having so much trouble with Ace. Mindless followers are only going to get you so far."

Kuki stared in shock as Wally twisted his knife through the air. He spoke about Ace as if he were an impudent puppy in need of proper training.

"You want results, you need competent leaders, ones that can strategize."

"Interesting point Brother, but why bring me her?" Father calmly stated, the fire dying down with his mood.

"No, better question...why bring her _here_!" Father shouted, his voice echoing over the sudden hiss of the fire, which rose with his temper.

"Tell me how the most useless member of Sector V is worth your life, _Brother_!"

Kuki seethed as the fire surrounding her sizzled.

"Because _she_ ended her career in the Kids Next Door as a top ranking officer, while you were off licking your wounds from an ass beating by a bunch of 10 year-olds!" Kuki growled, glaring up at the darkened corner of the catwalk.

Kuki bit her tongue, realizing that Wally had explicitly told her not to speak unless questioned or show emotion, and she had just done both. She really needed to work on her temper, but it was too late now.

She glared at Wally, at this point she didn't care what Father did to her. She had faced him many times as a mere child, she could certainly handle him now. There was no way she was going to sit here and let some psychotic pyromaniac belittle her.

Wally snickered to her left. "There's your answer."

Kuki rounded on him, but before she could vent her anger, the room shook with manic laughter. The laughter echoed all around her sending a shiver down her spine. Father always had a flair for the dramatic but this was too much.

"Such a brave little operative, opening her mouth when her friends aren't here to save her." Father's laughter once again flooded the room.

"So Brother, you don't want this one delightfulized...think she'll be better off as _one of us_." Father snickered. "Hmmm interesting...very _interesting_."

Kuki turned a questioning gaze towards Wally, who glared up into the darkness. It almost sounded as if Father was taunting him.

The fire once again rose to the height of the catwalk.

"I can't say I'm truly convinced Brother, but...seeing as we have found a _delightful_ replacement for her, I'll allow it."

Kuki shook her head and stared around the room, watching the fire dramatically graze the bridge as it inched towards the ceiling.

"Allow what exactly?" Kuki asked her former teammate.

Wally ignored her question and calmly tossed his blade through the air, as if he wasn't in the middle of a raging inferno.

Did he actually think she was going to willingly join this insanity?

"Wally, you have to know there's no way in hell I'm joining you." She whispered. Wally grabbed his blade before it began it's arc into the air and faced Kuki.

He locked eyes with her as she continued. "The Kids Next Door is going to beat father, just like we always do...no matter what team you've decided to play for, Numbuh 4."

Wally's expressionless mask cracked into a smirk.

Father's creepy laughter started up once again. "Oh no...we're not playing Kuki Sanban. No, you'll soon understand that the... _games..._ are over."

The fire around them suddenly went out, leaving them standing in the pitch black.

Kuki's heart raced as she tried desperately to make out something in the inky black of the room.

"You have two weeks to convince our little spitfire Brother, or she becomes another _delightful_ member of our family." Father's voice echoed through the darkened room.

The room fell into an eerie silence. The only evidence of the flames was the smell of sulfur and smoke that hung in the air.

Two weeks.

Wally had two weeks to convince her to join them.

Which meant she had two weeks to save him or if need be, stop him.

She shivered as she wondered what exactly convincing entailed. Kuki began to slowly inch her way backwards, realizing she wasn't going to stick around to find out.

She gasped as she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist. She swung her fist out, but it was quickly caught and used in order to pull her closer.

Wally had been ready for her to fight him...she knew it the moment she felt a sharp pinch on her neck. She froze for a moment in shock and felt the cold needle removed from the sensitive skin above her collarbone.

She kicked out, hearing Wally grunt as she hit him right between the legs. Despite the exhaustion overtaking her, she ran towards where she thought the door was, only to feel her legs go numb.

Kuki gasped as she dropped to the floor. Though disoriented, the amount of pain coming from her palms told her she had successfully caught herself.

She pulled herself up, knowing she had to get out of here, though no longer sure why.

She felt her body sway and drop backwards into someone's warm embrace.

A robotic voice could be heard, as something small was pulled onto her finger.

"SPY...Name..Kuki Sanban...Age...17...Height...5 feet...3 inches...Eye Color...Brown...".

A manic laughter drowned out the robotic voice and was all she heard as the darkness overtook her.


	14. Chapter 14

**Life has been a bit hectic so this chapter took a bit longer than expected. Thank you to everyone still following my story, especially my lovely reviewers! If you're looking to keep up to date on my story's progress feel free to follow me on Tumblr - seyelenga34**

Chapter 14

 _The darkness over took her..._

 _"Times up Numbuh 4." Kuki heard quietly behind her._

 _She recognized the accent, but Numbuh 86 just couldn't seem to maintain her normal, tough demeanor. She put on a good show for those around her, but after years of working together, Kuki knew Fanny's heart wasn't into the decommissioning process anymore._

 _Numbuh 86 had confessed this much right after Numbuh 5's decommissioning. As everyone cleared out, she pulled what was left of Sector V aside and apologized._

 _"Doesn't feel right ya know...not with me own decommissioning so close."_

 _Numbuh 2 and Numbuh 4 had stared at the typically loud and brass Numbuh 86 in shock, but Kuki immediately understood and wrapped the girl in a tight embrace._

 _She had always known Numbuh 86 had a big heart, deep down. It was evident from the pained look on her face as she decommissioned fellow operatives and from the wink she gave Kuki as the decommissioning machine suddenly needed a two minute 'reboot,' just as it was Wally's turn._

 _Two minutes wasn't much time, but Kuki knew it was more than most teenagers got in order to say their good-byes._

 _So, as an operative in a lab coat screamed about the useless decommission machine rebooting before every decommissioning this week, Numbuh 4 spent two more minutes as a Kids Next Door operative._

 _He turned first to a dark corner by the entrance, where a stoic looking Numbuh 1 stood hidden in the shadows. He nodded to Numbuh 1, who returned the gesture with a rare smile. Both knew there was nothing more to say at a time like this._

 _Numbuh 4 reluctantly dropped his grip on Kuki to shake Numbuh 2's outstretched hand. They both nodded at each other, trying to act tough, but soon fell into a fitting, brotherly hug._

 _He then turned to Kuki and just stared at her, mouth agape. He seemed to be racking his brain for the appropriate thing to say to her. He jumped at Numbuh 86's gentle reminder and gripped Kuki's hand in his own._

 _"Kuki...I..."_

 _"Get moving teenager, we don't have all day!" Shouted a young operative._

 _Numbuh 4 turned a withering glare upon the boy and looked apologetically back to Kuki, releasing her hand._

 _The tears she had been holding back silently spilled down her cheeks, as her best friend turned and accepted his fate._

 _She opened her mouth wanting to scream out everything he meant to her and how lost she'll be without him, but she couldn't find the words._

 _She wiped her eyes and turned her gaze to the ground, unable to watch someone who meant so much to her, lose every memory they had ever created._

 _"Kuki!"_

 _She looked up in time to see a flash of orange lunge towards her. Kuki gasped as she felt desperate hands grasp her face, pulling her forward._

 _The decommissioning operatives screamed in protest, but what they had said, she never heard. Her only focus was the set of lips crashing down upon her own._

 _The world around her seemed to stall, nothing mattered except for the warm lips moving against her own._

 _It was over as quickly as it had started._

 _Wally was ripped away from her by four shouting operatives. His damp eyes held her gaze as they aimed their weapons at his head and pulled him backwards._

 _"All right, all right, get off ya little punks." He growled as he shoved the operatives off of him, his gaze never leaving her as they pulled him to the decommission station._

 _The countdown began._

 _5_

 _"I'm gonna find you Kuki!" He shouted over the roar of the machine coming to life._

 _4_

 _"I promise..."_

 _3_

 _"I'll never forget you."_

 _2_

 _"Kuki."_

 _1_

 _"Kuki!"_

Heart racing, Kuki gasped awake, trying desperately to shake off the foggy feeling of a deep sleep.

The darkness of the room, did nothing to alleviate the anxiety from her recent dream. She took deep breaths and leaned against the cool wall behind her.

She hadn't thought about that moment since her own thirteenth birthday, which was ironic as she had replayed that memory everyday in own mind, up until her decommissioning.

She had truly believed Wally would remember her, despite the mind wiping he had received during the decommission process. A pang of embarrassment shot through her as she recalled the many times she had tried to talk to him afterward, each ending in an awkward disaster.

She never gave up on him though. Despite his constant indifference she kept trying, her heart full of hope, until her last day as a Kids Next Door operative.

He never did remember her. He had become so immersed in sports and his new group of friends that he never gave her a second thought. She went from being his best friend, to being the weird girl who wouldn't leave him alone.

If she were truly honest with herself, she knew it had been for the best. It had made her own decommissioning so much easier knowing that, afterward, she would never remember the pain she felt every time she looked into those blank emerald eyes.

As her breathing slowed, she realized a few stray tears were now rolling down her face.

Embarrassed, Kuki moved to wipe away the tears, wishing she could do the same with the memory, and gasped as something metal dug into her wrist.

Her recently calmed heart rate spiked back up as she tugged her wrist forward, only to be met with the same feeling of metal digging into her small wrist and the new pain of metal pulling on her other wrist.

Handcuffs?

The fog over her mind lifted as the events before her unplanned slumber came rushing back.

She paused a moment, listening for anything that could give her a clue as to where she had been placed. Other than the rushing of air above her, she heard nothing.

Sighing, she blindly attempted to stand but froze when a dim light flickered to life above her. Kuki blinked as her eyes watered, adjusting to the light source.

The little light allowed her to see she had been placed on the filthy floor of an empty, windowless holding cell.

Steps could now be heard quickly coming closer to her cell and before she could get her jelly-like legs to stand, the door slammed open.

Kuki looked to the door in time to see a familiar blonde head, closing the heavy metal door behind him.

Wally wasted no time. He quickly walked over to her and pulled her up from the floor. Kuki clenched her teeth as the handcuffs binding her arms behind her back, dug painfully into her wrists.

He let go when he deemed her stable on her feet, and stared at her. His beautiful face was set in the cold mask he had taken to wearing now that he had become 'Brother,' making it impossible for Kuki to read him.

He reached out and gently wiped away the tears that had trailed down Kuki's cheeks, as his eyes roamed her face.

Kuki pulled back from him, unable to decide if she was angry, sad or fearful. Kuki looked back at the solid metal door from which he came and asked "Where's your demon father?"

Thinking of the fiery hell pit from her recent encounter with Father sent a shiver down her spine. As a child, she had always thought the fire was for show, it was merely his sad attempt to scare the little children he so often underestimated. Now, the fire only shed a more demonic light on Sector V's greatest enemy.

Wally's cool mask cracked into a grimace.

"That's not _my_ father..." He said with clear disgust.

He glared for a moment and then dropped back into his usual look of nonchalance.

"We don't have time for small talk, Beautiful. The old man's never been very patient, especially when he gets a new toy."

"I'm no one's toy." Kuki spat, wanting nothing more than to smack the smirk that was now forming on the face of her former teammate.

Wally suddenly leaned in, pressing her against the coarse wall.

Kuki shivered as she felt his hot breath on her neck. He reached his hands into her hair, slowly pulling out the band that held her hair up. As soon as her freed hair fell against her face, Wally brushed his hands through her raven locks and bent down to her ear.

"That's my girl." He whispered.

As he pulled away, Kuki released the breath she didn't even know she was holding and watched him walk around the tiny cell, inspecting the grim on the walls.

"You have exactly twenty minutes. As soon as I walk out, the timer starts." Wally stated matter-of-factly.

Confused, Kuki stared as he turned and leaned against the filthy wall opposite her.

"Timer?" She asked. Kuki looked down to her ash covered clothes and then to the gray cement walls, which suddenly seemed to be closing in on her.

"Is this some kind of sick game?"

Wally laughed, it was harsh, almost bark-like, not at all like the carefree laughter she remembered from their childhood. "It's always a game, Beautiful, don't let anybody tell you different."

The smirk on his face dropped as his hand shot up to his earpiece. He pressed it further into his ear and stared blankly ahead.

Within seconds his arm relaxed and his gaze once again fell upon her.

"Looks like my times up, Beautiful, there's a _demon_ waiting for me." He winked and then began to chuckle as he started for the heavy door, his black combat boots echoing throughout the tiny prison.

He grabbed the metal lock and paused, turning to where Kuki stood leaning against the rough cement wall. A strange look fell over his usually controlled features. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, then shook his head, turning back to the door.

He paused once again and Kuki heard him audibly sigh. When he turned back he looked exhausted, and much older than his seventeen years. Kuki couldn't help but stare at the black shadows under his eyes and the creases in his perfect forehead.

"Twenty minutes...after that, he's in control and you never want _him_ in control." He said seriously. He held her gaze for another moment, and then wrenched the door open.

"Twenty minutes for wha..." Kuki began, thoroughly perplexed, but he was out the door before she could finish her thought.

The dim light flickered as the metal door slammed. Kuki jumped as a digital beep echoed throughout the cell. A red digital timer illuminated on the wall across from her. It flashed '20:00' and then began a silent countdown.

Kuki's heart dropped.

She was handcuffed and trapped in a tiny prison, with a timer counting down to God knows what.

She groaned as her head fell back against the cool cement. Kuki jumped as the sudden pain of something sharp pressing into the back of her head pulled her from her despair. Confused, she looked to the ground where her hair tie lay. There shouldn't be anything in her hair...unless...

Kuki pushed off of the wall, thankful for all of her training as a dancer. It had made her quite flexible, which came in pretty handy when your handcuffed. She twisted her shoulders and arms, slowly bringing her cuffed hands to the front of her body.

As the clock hit nineteen minutes, Kuki reached desperately into her raven hair, praying that she was right.

Within seconds her left hand grasped onto something small and solid tucked gently in her hair.

She pulled it out of her dark mane and smiled as her eyes fell upon a tiny bobby pin. Without thinking, her Kids Next Door training kicked into full gear, she bit the end of the bobby pin, ripping off the plastic coating on the edges and shoved the pin into the key holes of the cuffs.

As the handcuffs popped open, falling the floor with a metallic clunk, Kuki finally understood.

This was a game and Wally wanted her to win.

 _18:24_

 _18:23_

 _18:22_


	15. Chapter 15

**Wow, it's been too long! I'm so sorry for the long wait. So far, this has been the hardest chapter for me. I started it over the summer and since then its been through _several_ rewrites until I actually felt it was ready for you. I'm so thankful for those of you taking the time to read or review this story. It was more helpful to this chapter's completion than you will ever know. Special shout out to Yoyo, my darling, thank you for your love of my story.**

 **Note: I own nothing :)**

Chapter 15

 _18:21_

 _18:20_

The red numbers continued to countdown to an unknown fate as Kuki glanced around the empty cell. She turned and glared at the ridiculous digital clock now adorning the wall. The loud beeping as the time moved and the absurd size of the numbers was clearly meant to rattle her.

Kuki's face fell into a smirk worthy of Wally as she made her way to the cell door. She had way too much Kids Next Door training to let a little clock send her into a panic.

Father was going to have to do much better than that.

She pulled on the heavy door, unsurprised to find it tightly locked. Wally was no fool, but it was worth a shot. Sector V had faced many intelligent villains too wrapped up in their evil plans to pay attention to the minor details, such as locking a cell door.

She inwardly groaned, knowing that the air vent was going to be her only option. Vents in old buildings like this tended to be loud and unstable. She usually avoided them if she could.

Kuki leaned against the cool metal door and took in her tiny prison. She was much too short to reach the vent from the ground, but she might be able to kick off from the wall. It had been a while since she pulled off a stunt like this, but it looked to be her only option.

The sound of the countdown clock seemed to grow louder as her mind mapped out her jump.

Taking a deep breath, Kuki pushed off of the door and sprinted across the room, jumping as she met the wall. As soon as her feet connected with the rough cell wall, she pushed her small body upwards. Using the momentum from her jump, Kuki reached up and knocked the metal grate up into the dark vent.

Pride momentarily swelled within her chest, only to be crushed when her body unceremoniously slammed to the concrete floor.

A curse that would make her mother blush fell from her lips as her body felt the impact of her error. She should have tumbled as soon as she knocked the grate out. It had been years since she had trained and although her mind remembered what to do, her body didn't seem to want to cooperate.

Kuki pulled herself off the filthy floor, rubbing what she was sure would soon be a very bruised hip, and backed up to the door.

The vent was now open, all she had to do was spring her body off of the wall one more time and she was free of this dungeon.

The ominous beeping of the countdown clock echoed throughout her prison as she once again pushed off the door and raced across the cell, steadying her breathing as she watched the wall come closer.

Sweat dripped down her face as she jumped and sprung off of the wall, immediately twisting her body and reaching for the edge of the metal opening.

Kuki gripped the thin rim above her and gasped as she felt her left hand slip, catching her ring on the sharp edge of the rusted vent. Pain shot through her left hand as her left finger took on too much weight . Kuki bit back a whimper, wondering why the hell she chose today, of all days, to wear jewelry.

She quickly shifted her weight to her right side, dislodging her ring and finger from the jagged rim. Trying her best to avoid that area of the vent, Kuki pulled herself up into the tiny passageway.

She hissed as her leg caught the same edge on its way up through the small hole, the rusted metal slicing right through her jeans. It was too dark and cramped to make a true assessment of her new wound, but it seemed as if her jeans took most of the damage.

Her new leg wound dulled the pain of her aching ring finger. Kuki rolled her eyes at her own stupidity, jewelry and missions never mixed well. She was lucky her finger was still attached.

Pausing in the cramped air vent, Kuki blindly felt her left hand for the cursed ring. Grasping the cool metal ring between her fingers, she slowly pulled it up her aching digit, figuring she could just leave it in the vent. None of the rings she owned were worth more than her finger.

After several moments of twisting and pulling, it was clear the ring wasn't going passed her knuckle. The finger must have started to swell. She was just going to have to be more careful with that hand.

She groaned as her mind registered the ticking of the countdown clock, which seemed to echo louder in the tiny passage. Pushing the ring to the back of her mind, her focus returned to her mission.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to dark vent. Though small, it seemed pretty stable and was just wide enough for her to crawl through. She cringed as she felt the mounds of dust and filth covering the metal beneath her.

She pulled her shirt over her nose and began her journey through the narrow duct. Even with her nose covered, the smell of rust and dirt was overwhelming. Her eyes watered as the grime she disrupted flew around her face. Though little shreds of light shone through cracks and holes in the vent, they were little help on her journey.

The vent creaked menacingly with every movement she made, threatening to give way any moment. Kuki grit her teeth and pushed through the filth covered passage, reaching blindly in front of her for any corners or turns.

Despite her best efforts to tune it out, the countdown clock was beginning to grate on her nerves.

After what seemed like ages, her hand finally came into contact with a turn in the duct. She followed it and her heart leapt at the sight of light coming up from another opening.

With an end in sight, Kuki pushed on through the grime and carefully made her way to the vent grate.

Any attempt to peek through the rusted slits of the vent opening proved useless. She sighed knowing it didn't matter anyway, the noisy metal vent was far from subtle.

Kuki bit her lip as she pulled the grate up and carefully lowered her body through the opening.

The moment her sneakers hit the cement she dropped into a crouching stance, her operative skills kicking into high gear. Her heart raced as she glanced around, what seemed to be, an empty corridor, ready for an ambush.

After a few tense moments frozen on the chilled cement floor, Kuki could comfortably say she was alone.

The incessant beeping seemed to be echoing throughout the entire old building. A flashing light drew her attention to the blood red numbers displayed on the clock projection across from her.

 _13:25_

She took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart, reminding herself she had done more, in less time, when she was only ten. Despite this truth, the inescapable ticking of the digital clock was gnawing away at her nerves.

She knew better than to let Father's stupid timepiece get to her, but her anxiety refused to listen.

What happened when she ran out of time?

She shivered slightly, hoping she wouldn't have to find out.

Kuki found herself to be in a dimly light hallway, much like the ones Wally dragged her through on the way to Father's room from hell. There were no windows, just a series of metal doors.

The left end of the hall led to a dead end, so her only option was right.

Knowing her time was short, Kuki sprinted through the hall, kicking up dirt as her green Nike's pounded on the filthy floor. Her sneakers slid as she made a sharp turn, but she quickly regained her balance. A faded exit sign at the end of the short passage gave her a jolt of energy, knowing freedom was so close.

As the sign grew closer, she realized it hung over the entrance to an ancient stairwell. The door that once enclosed the stairwell now lay a few feet away, looking as if it had been ripped from its hinges and tossed aside.

As she passed it, she could just make out a rusted number 4 nailed to the top right corner.

Four flights down was freedom.

She could do this.

It wasn't until she hit the top step that her nose finally registered something off.

Smoke.

Black smoke slowly billowed up the stairwell, coming right after her. She could see dancing flames creeping onto the landing below

They had set the building on fire!

Kuki quickly twisted, knowing she would need to find an alternate route now. As she turned, the hall dropped into blackness, the blood red letters now casting a sinister glow.

"Poor little girl..."

Kuki choked as she heard a chorus of voices around her.

"So frightened and alone..."

She twisted on the spot and charged up the stairs, knowing very well that she was probably being herded like cattle to the slaughterhouse.

The heat, from the flames slowly climbing the stairs, made her dizzy as she sprinted up to the next level. She was almost relieved when her hands pushed against the fifth floor entrance, the very last door at the top of the stairwell.

She would have given anything for a rooftop, just to be able to smell the fresh air. The smell of dirt and smoke seemed to be permanently stuck her nostrils.

A cool draft met her as the door opened to the next level of hell. She was met with another dimly lit corridor, only this led to several other halls.

The fire raging on the bottom floors weighed heavily on her mind as she chose the second hallway. The all too familiar red numbers counting down were projected ominously on each wall.

 _10:03_

 _10:02_

Kuki sprinted down the hall, hoping to find a door somewhere, but the hall seemed to go on forever. It twisted and turned, but never actually led anywhere.

She stopped and glanced around the passage, now thoroughly lost. She was contemplating her next move when she was roughly grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground.

Kuki clenched her teeth as her body slammed onto the cement floor.

They had her exactly where they wanted her.

"We only wanted to play Kuki Sanban..."

Kuki pulled herself off of the ground and stood, ready for a fight, as the blonde Delightful that threw her to the ground made his way over to her.

"Aren't we a little old for playing games?" She spat, as she clenched her fists, ready for an attack.

"Oh," another figure from behind her crooned, "Brother doesn't seem to think so..."

She turned to see another Delightful creeping up behind her. She could just make out her sliver rimmed glasses and wider frame.

"He's the one who brought you to us you know...A new toy." She continued, directly behind Kuki now.

Kuki had no intention of entertaining their little game. She clenched her fists and spun, surprising the Delightful behind her with a well timed kick.

The girl screeched and dropped to the floor, blindly searching the ground for the glasses Kuki had sent careening through the air.

Kuki twisted in time to see a fist flying towards her face, she dodged it and kicked the blonde right between the legs.

He groaned and fell the ground.

"Now don't be a bad sport, Kuki..." She heard echoing around her, presumably from the other three Delightfuls. "That's not how the game is played!"

Kuki gasped as the floor suddenly dropped out from beneath her.

Her body plummeted through the dark opening in the cement. She screamed and reached out, grabbing onto the edge of the opening. Smoke rose up around her as Kuki secured her grip on the edge. She looked down and immediately regretted that decision.

She was dangling over a sea of flames that now covered the fourth floor. She screamed as her hands slipped. Kuki gripped the edge with every ounce of strength she had left in her body.

"No one likes a cheater, Kuki." The Delightfuls chorused.

Kuki looked up to see five sadistic grins watching her dangle inches from death.

"Don't worry Kuki..." They laughed, "We'll tell brother you tried your best..."

Kuki watched as one lifted a metal bat.

Her eyes widened in horror as she realized he was aiming for her fingers, which were desperately gripping the edge of the trap floor.

They were literally trying to kill her.

Seeing red, Kuki pulled her body up with the extra adrenaline now pumping through her body, grabbing onto the bat before it hit her, pulling it from his grasp. The Delightful above her yelled out in shock and fell backwards. Kuki used this distraction to drag her body out of the opening in the floor. Unable to climb and grip the bat, she let it drop into the raging inferno beneath her.

She could honestly say that since her days in the Kids Next Door, she had not been in a single fight, so Kuki was truly surprised at her reaction to the Delightfuls as they lunged towards her.

Instinct seemed to take over as the tallest one grabbed her from behind and she slammed the back of her head into his nose. As he screamed in disgust, Kuki punched another Delightful in the face and then snapped her elbow back, hitting the shortest of Father's Children in the eye. Another one grabbed for her but she jumped backwards and then back-flipped her body over the fiery hole in the floor, using the velocity from the trick to knock the heaviest Delightful to the ground.

Without turning back, she sprinted down the hallway.

The passageway instantly dropped into darkness, lit only by the stupid red digital clock.

5:43

Unwilling to stop Kuki stretched her arms out, using the wall to guide her.

"Join us Kuki. _We_ can help you." The Delightfuls voices echoes behind her.

"Brother left you to die" Their voices taunted.

Sweat dripped down her neck as Kuki felt her hand hit a door handle.

Finally!

Without a second thought, Kuki yanked the door open and ran into the room, slamming the door closed. She twisted the lock, knowing it would do little to protect her, but might give her a few more moments of time.

She turned around to inspect her new prison and her heart dropped.

The moonlight from a large glass window allowed Kuki to make out every horrifying detail of the surgical room she had just willingly entered. All types of surgical tools lay scattered about on the counter and floor. The ground was covered in a dark substance that Kuki prayed wasn't blood.

Her eyes finally settled on the large metal table that sat in the middle of the room, leather straps swinging eerily as the Delightfuls laughter echoed menacingly through the room.

"Don't be scared, Kuki Sanban...We just want to play _._..."

"Like hell you wanna play" kuki muttered as she ran to the window, jumping over the dark stain in the floor.

A flash of a bright light in the corner stopped her in her tracks. She turned to see an dusty old computer flickering to life, long forgotten in the corner of the room.

Strange.

Forgetting the window, Kuki slowly made her way over to the ancient machine, watching as it loaded to a black screen.

A cursor flashed several times at the top and slowly the word 'SPY' was spelled out on the screen.

The word flashed a few times and the screen fell black once more. Tiny words suddenly began to scroll down the screen, she moved closer to make out the writing, only to realize it was a long list of computer coding.

Kuki sighed, wishing Hoagie was here, mysterious computer codes were his favorite. Ready to give up on the computer, Kuki started to turn away, when the scrolling stopped. The cursor at the top of the screen once again flashed, spelling out a few words that made her heart drop.

 _'Operation D.A.D. - Destroy And Delightfulize'_

Faces, hundreds of them, suddenly scrolled down the computer screen; several of smiling teenagers, others were adults, some were quite elderly looking. Kuki stared horrified at the screen, as she watched the familiar faces of her team scroll by.

The irony of Father's disgusting plan written out as a Kids Next Door mission made her sick to her stomach.

Every few seconds a picture or two would speed by with writing diagonally across it. She squinted, trying to make out the small letters as they randomly scrolled across the screen.

Her heart stopped when she finally made out the word, it was slapped over her own photograph.

 _Terminated._

Father wasn't testing her at all, he was trying to kill her. She thought about Wally's words as he left her in the tiny prison cell.

Termination. That was what happened when Father was in control.

A loud beeping noise suddenly drew her attention to the door. Blood red numbers that certainly hadn't been there a few moments ago were now projected onto the door.

2:32

Father was keeping tabs on her and was clearly under the impression that he had just won.

She turned her attention to the window, knowing that getting out was now a matter of life and death. She turned away from the computer just as a few more familiar faces scrolled across the monitor, and sprinted to the window, urgently searching for a way out.

She bit her lip as her fingers finally found an ancient crank. The moment she pulled on the rusted handle, it broke off in her hand.

Frustrated, she threw the useless crank across the room, smashing something glass on the counter. A ebony liquid poured down the side of the counter as she gazed helplessly out the window.

Dark smoke rose up from the fiery floor beneath her. It was only a matter of time before her room was consumed by it as well. Her eyes searched desperately through the smoke, she was five stories up, there was no safely jumping from this height.

Her eyes fell on an old fire escape two stories down. The window ledges of the old building jutted out a few feet away from the building. Her mind plotted her escape as the rational part of her tore her plan apart, it was way too dangerous.

The handle began to violently jiggle behind her, reminding her that being trapped in a burning building with the devil and his demons was so much worse.

Her mind made up, Kuki ran to the metal table and grabbed the heaviest looking tool, throwing it at the ancient glass window.

The great window shattered, sending huge chunks of glass into the darkness outside and welcoming in a blanket of smoke.

The violent shaking of the handle behind her ceased, as she grabbed a strange tool that resembled a hammer off the metal table.

She jumped as something slammed into the door. The old door was solid, but not strong enough to handle a force like that for much longer.

Kuki ran to the window, hitting the glass with the metal tool, making the hole big enough for her to safely step through without catching herself on jagged shards.

The door behind her finally gave way and slammed to the ground. Years of dust and grime flew through the air, mixing in with the black smoke.

Kuki gripped the hammer and turned to face her aggressors.

She could only make out the whites of their eyes through all the filth surrounding them, but Kuki knew it was Father's Children.

"Foolish girl the game is incomplete!" The Delightfuls shouted.

Kuki smirked as the Delightfuls stepped in to view, looking murderous. With the door now on the floor, the blood red numbers now projected onto the cloud of smoke and grime.

 _0:57_

"Sorry to disappoint you _Children_ , but I make the rules in this game..."

The glass crunched beneath her sneakers as she began to back up to the window.

"And I win!"

Kuki threw the hammer in the direction of the Delightfuls, who scattered in an effort to avoid it, and jumped out onto the ledge.

Kuki knew if she thought about it, she'd lose her nerve, so the moment her sneakers hit the ledge, she leapt from its edge.

Her heart seemed to stop as her body flew through the air five stories above the ground. The feeling of weightlessness was almost thrilling, if her life wasn't currently on the line.

She twisted in the air and reached out for the very ledge she leapt from.

She could feel the glass shards dig into her skin as she gripped the rough cement. Panting loudly from exertion or pure panic, she really wasn't sure anymore, she swung her body out.

As she felt herself swing towards the building, she let go.

She watched as the window below her came into view. She focused on the ledge jutting out from the fourth floor window. Within seconds, her sneakers hit the cement of the window ledge.

Her execution was perfect, unfortunately her landing choice wasn't.

Unable to take her weight, the decrepit ledge crumbled beneath her feet.

Kuki threw her arms out, desperately hoping for something to grasp onto, but her arms swung out in vain.

Her scream died in her throat as her body dropped into the inky black night below.


End file.
